BWW Reviews: HMS PINAFORE, Union Theatre, November 7 2013

What fun we have with this Pinafore! There are the setpieces from "We sail the ocean blue" through "When I was a lad" to "He is an Englishman", there's silliness and satire and there's some very energetic dancing from our sailor boys. And, in this production (which the programme helpfully locates within a proud tradition reaching into schools and Stalags), these sailor boys transform themselves into sisters, cousins and aunts, not to mention Buttercup and Josephine - since this is one of Sasha Regan's celebrated all-male Gilbert and Sullivan shows.

Tom Senior is charming as Ralph - our hero - and plays wonderfully well off Bex Roberts' coy, but committed, Josephine. The lovers get excellent support from Benjamin Vivian-Jones' (dare I say, camp) Captain and Ciaran O'Driscoll's beautifully sung Buttercup. Lording it over them all (literally) is the insufferable The Rt Hon Sir Joseph Porter KCB, to whom David McKechnie brings a music hall comic's physicality and an almost Cruikshankian grotesquerie. It's quite a turn!

At the heart of this production is a love of the material. The female parts may be played by men, but they are not in drag - instead their falsetto voices add a dimension to the singing and a pathos to the protestations of love frustrated. And what songs! With Chris Mundy's admirably understated piano tinkling in the background, much of the singing has the feel of the acapella about it, foregrounding William Gilbert's razor sharp wit in the lyrics and Arthur Sullivan's gift for composing timeless melodies.You really do hear the roots of 20th century musical theatre, and even Lennon and McCartney.

The Union Theatre's black box may not provide space for mass choruses, but every inch is used to great effect. It also allows G&S first timers to sample one of their most crowdpleasing works up close and personal, without the sometimes offputting trappings of period costumes and ostentation. It's an ideal introduction to a body of work that - if you get it - will give pleasure over a lifetime. And if you're not a first timer, you'll know what you're in for. And you'll know that you're never (well, hardly ever) disappointed.

HMS Pinafore continues at the Union Theatre until 30 November.

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