Following their Festival debut with The Gondoliers in 2023, Forbear! Theatre is delighted to be returning to the Two Sisters’ Theatre with HMS Pinafore.

HMS Pinafore (or ‘The Lass That Loved a Sailor’) was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth collaboration. This opera opened May 28, 1878 at the Opera Comique. It ran for 571 performances and became a hugely popular in England, as well as in America.

Pinafore is among the most popular Gilbert and Sullivan operas, perhaps because of its infectious tunes and generally well-constructed libretto. Drawing on several of Gilbert’s ‘bab ballad’ poems, HMS Pinafore is full of mirth, with silliness to spare. The opera’s gentle satire reprises and builds upon one of The Sorcerer’s themes: Love between members of different social classes.

The timeless-ness of this piece makes it incredibly poignant, but it is by no means short of absurdity. We are forced to assume that these characters occupy a universe in which people born into the ‘upper classes’ are biologically different from those born into ‘lower classes’ and, if these get mixed up, hilarity will no-doubt ensue.

HMS Pinafore boasts some of the most lovable characters and memorable tunes in the canon, and along with sparkling choreography and a dash of Forbear!’s brand of silliness, this performance is guaranteed to leave a smile on your face and a song in your heart.

MORE Gilbert & Sulivan, The Sorcerer will be performed by Charles Court Opera on Sun 18 Aug.