HMS Pinafore | English National Opera, London Coliseum, 2021
Gilbert and Sullivan’s nautical comedy of class, love, and mistaken identities returned to English National Opera in Cal McCrystal’s exuberant production, running from October to December 2021 at the London Coliseum. The comic operetta follows the romantic entanglements aboard the HMS Pinafore, where Captain Corcoran’s daughter Josephine must choose between the humble sailor Ralph Rackstraw and the pompous First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter, while a shocking revelation about switched identities threatens to upend the ship’s entire social order.
Conducted by Chris Hopkins with choreography by Lizzi Gee, the production starred Les Dennis as Sir Joseph Porter, John Savournin as Captain Corcoran, and Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Ralph Rackstraw. McCrystal—returning to ENO following his successful 2019 production of Iolanthe—brought his signature blend of physical comedy, theatrical inventiveness, and respect for Gilbert and Sullivan’s satirical bite to this beloved 1878 work.
Set and Costume Design Vision
takis’ design creates a theatrical HMS Pinafore with two rotating ship decks that reveal interior and exterior spaces, allowing seamless transitions between the vessel’s public areas and private quarters. The rotating mechanism becomes both practical staging solution and comic device, supporting the show’s themes of social mobility and hidden truths through literal physical transformation of the space.
The Union Jack backdrop establishes the production’s patriotic pageantry, while the ship’s architecture—rigging, masts, naval equipment—creates an authentically maritime environment that can accommodate both Gilbert and Sullivan’s witty dialogue and the production’s extensive physical comedy. The design must support everything from intimate romantic duets to large ensemble numbers like the famous “I Am the Captain of the Pinafore” and “He Is an Englishman.”
The costume design captures Victorian Royal Navy hierarchy through instantly readable visual codes: sailors in traditional navy-and-white striped shirts, officers in formal naval uniforms with appropriate ranks and insignia, Sir Joseph Porter in the ornate dress of high government office, and Josephine in period-appropriate feminine elegance. The design uses costume to illustrate the operetta’s central satire about how social position depends on arbitrary accidents of birth rather than genuine merit.
The production’s visual approach honors the work’s Victorian origins while embracing theatrical playfulness, creating a world that feels both historically grounded and knowingly theatrical. The combination of McCrystal’s physical comedy direction and takis’ functional yet spectacular design earned an Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
Creative Team
- Director: Cal McCrystal
- Designer: takis
- Conductor: Chris Hopkins
- Choreographer: Lizzi Gee
- Composer: Arthur Sullivan
- Librettist: W.S. Gilbert
Production Context
HMS Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor premiered in London in 1878 and became Gilbert and Sullivan’s first international sensation, establishing the partnership’s characteristic blend of topical satire, memorable melodies, and absurdist plot complications. The operetta satirizes patriotic jingoism, class pretension, and the British obsession with naval prowess, while delivering some of the duo’s most beloved songs including “I’m Called Little Buttercup” and “Never Mind the Why and Wherefore.”
English National Opera’s commitment to Gilbert and Sullivan has helped maintain these Victorian operettas in the contemporary repertoire, demonstrating how their satire of class systems, institutional pomposity, and social hypocrisy remains remarkably relevant. Cal McCrystal’s productions—he previously directed ENO’s Iolanthe in 2019—bring fresh energy to these works by taking their physical comedy potential seriously while respecting the sophistication of Gilbert’s wordplay and Sullivan’s musical invention.
The 2021 production’s success led to its revival for ENO’s 2025/26 season, demonstrating audience appetite for Gilbert and Sullivan presented with theatrical imagination and physical comedy expertise. McCrystal’s background in physical comedy (including work on the Paddington films and Tony Award-winning One Man, Two Guvnors) allows these operettas to achieve their full comic potential while maintaining the musical integrity that makes Gilbert and Sullivan endure.
The Olivier Award nomination for Set and Costume Design recognized how takis’ work supported both the production’s comic inventiveness and its musical demands, creating a theatrical environment where Victorian operetta could feel simultaneously period-authentic and freshly theatrical.