Her Majestie's School Pinafore

Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic topsy-turvy tale of love and confusion set on board ship, is transposed to the equally grand surroundings of the English boys public school, "PINAFORE", founded in 1603. Steeped in its ancient traditions and with class distinctions as rigid as the original's Victorian navy, this fine old institution is in for a radical shakeup. Because of its dwindling finances, it has been forced to apply for Government grants, but in doing so has had to agree to admit girls into its sixth form for the first time. To add to the school's troubles, a new, theory-driven headmaster has been appointed with no practical teaching experience whatsoever.
Her Majestie's School Pinafore is packed with humour and, as with our two previous productions, the themes of the original remain intact as does the music. The only changes having been made are to the situation and the personal relationships between the principal characters. For example, to remove the anomaly of the age difference between Ralph and Josepine, 'Captain Corcoran' becomes "Corky", the Captain of School and Josephine is now his sister, a new secretary and the object of desire of both our hero, Ralph Rackstraw (a humble 'charity boy' and exceptional sportsman), and the new theory-driven Hungarian headmaster, Serge Oseff Pauta G.C.E. 'Dick Deadeye' continues to stir up trouble as the antisocial school caretaker, 'Little Buttercup' is transformed into "Mrs. Bottomsup", Pinafore's inebriate Matron and the minor role of 'Cousin Hebe' in the original has been expanded into "Phoebe Uptight", a rather timid teacher transferred to Pinafore together with the new girls. There are also several colourful characters within the Chorus including a new one for the ladies. The Gentlemen become the public schoolboys (resplendent in their short trousers) horrified at first to be forced to share their proud and ancient school with a group of young 'ladies' from "Grimsdyke", the local failed comprehensive, who owe more to the girls from “St. Trinians” than the nuns chorus from “The Sound of Music”!
Charity Boy, Ralph Rackstraw (Joseph Shovelton), attempts to win over Josephine (Linda Smart) with an extract from "101 Best Lovers Speeches". (Act I)     Ralph leads his fellow pupils in a rendition of the new School Song, "A Student's Heart Should Be Pure As Snow" (Act I). Mrs. Bottomsup (Hazel Bonshor) explains to Corky (Chris Teagle) that "Things are Seldom What They Seem". (Act II)   The Company defend Ralph, "For He Is An Englishman", when Corky discovers the lovers together in The Pavilion (Act II).     © From the original Gasleak production As the score remains intact, part of the fun for the cognoscenti is comparing the new with the original words; but our aim is to attract new audiences to G&S, and in this we have been very successful. We invariably find that those who have been pursuaded to see one of our shows for the first time have said how much they enjoyed it and how they did not realise it would be so funny. We think that's the point. G&S is after all supposed to be comic opera. The humour of the original works is often outdated and sometimes a little leaden. But with an up-to-date script and a more realistic setting for modern audiences and performers, the show really sparkles.
By way of a bonus (as with Patience), we have produced a film to accompany the show that is available for hire alongwith the set. It is screened during the overture and shows the contrasting preparation of three new boys and the Grimsdyke girls for their first day at their new school - thus setting the style and tone of the show with the audience laughing from the very start.
...What the papers said... "Stands as an excellent show in its own right." "Gasleak have brought a breath of fresh air to a tired formula... School was never this much fun." "Sparkling.... Hilarious.... difficult to see the join between old and new...." "I can't wait for their next adaptation."
	It may seem an extreme departure from the original, but we believe that G&S must move on in this manner if it is to have any future. We know from past experience that when they've stopped laughing and applauding, audiences will be left in no doubt that they've seen a production of H.M.S. PINAFORE.