Set on board the warship HMS Pinafore, the opera cheerfully mocks such Great British institutions as Class, Patriotism and the Royal Navy.
Josephine the captain’s daughter is in love with Ralph, a common sailor, but her father wants her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty. The couple are caught as they elope from the ship and Ralph is locked in the ship’s dungeon. Only when certain revelations are made by Buttercup, a dockside vendor, can everyone end up freely marrying their true hearts’ loves.
This wonderful comic opera gets the complete Illyria treatment, faithfully performed by a reduced cast on a beautiful nautical set.