JAMES MUNRO has some doubts about the time-shifting in an otherwise enjoyable slice of G&S from Skye.

IN THE half-century or so since the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan came out of copyright they have become the preserve of the local amateur operatic society. Hardly surprising, as they tend to offer a plethora of characters and a cornucopia of catchy songs which are sure to please. The plots do not challenge and the humour retains its pertinence, even today over a hundred years after the last of them, The Gondoliers, was written.

Gilbert and Sullivan scored their first international hit with HMS Pinafore in 1878, satirising the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority and poking good-natured fun at the Royal Navy and the English obsession with social status. As with many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise twist changed everything dramatically near the end of the story.

Ann Lampard’s Skye-based Inner Sound chose to move the action forward to the 1920s for their Jeeves and Wooster production of HMS Pinafore which played to a packed and appreciative audience at Eden Court.

Creative though that chronological move was, it did throw up several anomalies. The set and the costumes were more RMS than HMS, more cruise liner than cruiser. And what, if not to give a role to all the members of the company, was the purpose of the half dozen escapees from St Trinians, sorry, Broadford Ladies College? And could they not have been armed with camans rather than hockey sticks?

Morag Miller, an Inner Sound stalwart, took on the soubrette role of Little Buttercup. Her contralto voice was ideal, but she looked about thirty years too young, or had cosmetic science already developed such an efficient skin preparation back then?

In the soprano heroine role of Josephine, Rhona Colwell did not have the same problem, as she was able to be herself, young and glamorous with a confident voice. Equally young and glamorous was Clare Coghill as Hebe, Sir Joseph’s cousin, but her voice could have been stronger and she appeared to be at least a couple of generations removed.

Of the male roles, Craig Steele as Ralph Rackshaw and Tom Colwell as Captain Corcoran, the two protagonists in the surprise dramatic twist, had a good pair of voices and came across well. But the real male star was Andrew Stevenson in the comedy patter role of Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Support came from Neil Gerrard, Allan Macleod and Laurie Chattington as Dick Deadeye, Bosun and Carpenter.

The set, designed and built by Mick and Sue Moore and David Dipnall, was more nautical than naval, but it served its purpose, and had to be suitably flexible to work in smaller venues as well as on the stage of the OneTouch Theatre. I can imagine that the full company would find things a bit cramped in a performance space such as that at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.

As co-producers, Ann Lampard and Tom Colwell have put together an enthusiastic company, many of whom have aspirations to take their musical interests further. Companies such as Inner Sound are the breeding ground for new theatrical talent as well as a home for those who are committed to the hard work required but who choose to earn their livings in a safer environment. Finally, praise must go to Elizabeth Shepherd who toiled so successfully for so long at the keys of Eden Court’s notoriously knackered piano.

Overall, as amateur operatic productions go this was better than most, but at Eden Court, Inner Sound are in a professional environment and if they are to be judged on that basis, then there some rough edges, such as the chorus being too static and Dick Deadeye being too nice. And I would be unconvinced by the device of moving the action to the flapper era so as to accommodate the whole company. 

© James Munro, 2010