A fantastic voyage aboard the H.M.S. Pinafore

By Nicole Diamond

JULIA TIERNAN/YH The H.M.S. Pinafore never falters. What never? Hardly ever.

I must admit it was with some trepidation that I attended this weekend's performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. As a production co-sponsored by the Yale Gilbert and Sullivan Society, only the leading roles were cast through auditions. The rest of the ensemble is made up of the society's members, leaving much to the chance talent of a group of avid G&S fans. Adding to my skepticism was the fact that past Yale productions requiring a competent student orchestra have not always risen to the challenge; some, in fact, have fallen miserably short. But in this case, I was happy to find that I worried for nothing.

The Yale Gilbert and Sullivan Society's production of H.M.S. Pinafore is a lovely and accomplished show, performed with both charm and talent. With a minimal set, consisting only of a British flag, a small wooden bench,
and a white half-moon, the production allows the focus to rest soundly on the actors. The costumes and props, complete with a hilariously used ukelele, further support the cast in its efforts to bring to life the quarterdeck of the
H.M.S. Pinafore.

The play tells the story of love between classes. At the start, we learn that the common sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, has fallen in love with the captain's daughter, Josephine. Fortunately, his love is returned by the young maiden. Unfortunately, her father, Captain Corcoran, plans to marry her to The Retired Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B., a man of high social regard, but little romantic merit. As Josephine and Ralph plot to run away together, the lower class Buttercup pines after the captain, the sailors and maidens of the ensemble flirt across the deck, and the villain Dick Deadeye seeks to ruin everyone's happiness. But in the end, a secret is revealed which changes everyone's destiny, and all that was wrong is made right. It is the stuff of fairy tales, or regular Gilbert and Sullivan material.

The shining star of this production is Elizabeth de Luca, BR '99, who plays Josephine. She was meant to perform Gilbert and Sullivan, both theatrically and musically, and manages to bring a freshness to lines as romantically clichéd as the best-known Shakespearean sonnet. Equally delightful while both acting and singing, de Luca is a joy to watch.

As Buttercup, Laura Bernardy,
CC '01, is also impressive. Her acting is strong, and her voice manages the range of the vocal part with little difficulty. Also worth noting is Warren Jones,
PC '02, who plays the proper Captain Corcoran. Andrew Lind, BR `02, also does a fine job with his role as the evil Dick Deadeye.

The orchestra members should also be commended for their part in the production. In an inspired decision, the orchestra is situated directly above the stage in a balcony which runs the width of the TD dining hall. From there, with soft lights reflecting off their instruments, the 11-person orchestra delivers a rich and full sound that wafts down to the audience, complementing the production without either drowning out or deserting the singers on stage.

The problems with this production are delivery and enunciation. Surprisingly, this lack of clarity arises not in the musical numbers, but in the spoken exchanges. Since the story calls for both low- and high-born characters, it is perhaps understandable that director Christian Williams, TD '99, chose to have his actors speak with appropriately class-oriented accents. However, there appears to be little uniformity even among classes; the end result is a slew of garbled lines and awkward pronunciation. The production would have been better if the
accents had been dropped entirely, and the lines
had been allow-
ed to speak for
themselves.

Luckily, this defect only slightly detracts from the production as a whole. While the production does tend to err on the side of broad comedy, it is handled well and is in general consistent with the nature of the show itself.

This weekend's production of H.M.S. Pinafore is a lot of fun. It is sweet and comic, the music is lovely, and it ends happily ever after, even if the `villain' isn't really such a bad guy. There are maidens and sailors, a captain's daughter, and even a well-hung moon. What more could you ask for?

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