THE NATIONAL Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company will stage three of the pair’s classic productions in three days from September 8 to 10 at Malvern Theatres.
The Pirates of Penzance will be performed on Thursday, Iolanthe on Friday and HMS Pinafore on Saturday when the company will be joined by the the celebrated Opera Della Luna for two performances of HMS Pinafore.
This will be the first time at the venue in three years because of the enforced Covid break.
Sarah Helsby Hughes directs one of the most enduringly popular of Gilbert and Sullivan’s great comic creations, The Pirates of Penzance.
Packled with fun and frivolity, it stars James Cleverton as the dashing Pirate King and Matthew Siveter as the Major General.
What could possibly go wrong with sentimental, swashbuckling pirates who are actually peers of the realm, a completely dotty Major General and a bumbling bunch of hapless policemen?
Iolanthe, directed by John Savournin, is an hilarious satirical fairytale.
Life in the fairy kingdom has been pretty miserable since Iolanthe was banished for marrying a mortal, forbidden by fairy law, but things start to look up when the Fairy Queen pardons her.
This enchanting production stars Matthew Kellett as the Lord Chancellor and Meriel Cunningham as Iolanthe. WS Gilbert wrote his libretto for Iolanthe a 140 years ago, ridiculing the hereditary peerage among many other things, and there are lines in it that could have been written yesterday.
And to round off a fabulous three days of Gilbert and Sullivan, Opera della Luna entertain with their much-celebrated and much-loved production of HMS Pinafore – one of the pair’s most successful productions. It becomes a fast-moving, totally delightful, and hilarious re-creation of the original hit.
The National Festival Orchestra accompanies all performances.
The performance of The Pirates of Penzance on Thursday, September 8, will be at 7.30pm.
There will be two each of Iolanthe (Friday) and HMS Pinafore (Saturday) at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
Visit malvern-theatres.co.uk or call 01684 892277 for tickets and more information.
