Director – Sarah Helsby Hughes
Conductor – James Hendry
Performed by the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, featuring the National Festival Orchestra.
Director Sarah Helsby Hughes is a familiar and much-loved face at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. Sarah was Artistic Director of Heritage Opera from 2011 to 2025 and has directed and designed over forty opera productions across the UK.
Sarah said: “I’m delighted to be directing HMS Pinafore and thrilled with the wonderful cast we’ve brought together. It’s going to be a very special production. I’ve chosen to set the show in the ‘early Downton Abbey’ period of 1912–1914, which gives us a wonderfully glamorous world for the setting and costumes.”
HMS Pinafore in a nutshell
The Captain’s daughter, Josephine, is secretly in love with Ralph Rackstraw, a modest sailor — but her father has other plans. He’s determined she should marry the grand and rather absurd Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty.
As romance, duty and class expectations collide, the crew are swept into a whirlwind of comic chaos and surprising revelations.
With toe-tapping tunes and a playful send-up of British society and the Royal Navy, HMS Pinafore is a timeless theatrical classic guaranteed to leave you smiling long after the final curtain.
Don’t miss your chance to jump aboard — book now and join us for a night of laughter, music and comic opera magic!
Tickets: £20–£49
Cast
- Sir Joseph Porter – Simon Butteriss
- Captain Corcoran – Ben McAteer
- Ralph Rackstraw – David Webb
- Dick Deadeye – Mark Saberton
- Josephine – Phoebe Smith
- Little Buttercup – Gaynor Keeble
Pre-theatre Talk
HMS Pinafore talks will take place in St John’s Church at 6.30 pm on Sunday 9 August and Friday 14 August. (£5)
