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1954 - Trial by Jury & H.M.S. Pinafore

Show Synopses by J. C. Gent

Trial by Jury


This forty-minute " curtain-raiser " is a simple story of an action for breach of promise of marriage but it needed a writer like Gilbert to realise the comic possibilities of such a situation, especially when the case is to be tried by a Judge and Jury so very susceptible to the charms of the opposite sex, There is no spoken dialogue to interrupt the sparkling flow of Sullivan's music and to many enthusiasts this fact causes the little opera to stand out as a perfect gem of construction.
The defendant finds himself in what we should describe nowadays as a " tight spot." There can be no excuse for his heartless treatment of so attractive a plaintiff and yet none of the solutions suggested by various interested parties meet with the approval of either side to the dispute. At the moment when we are brought to what appears to be an impasse, the difficulties are all resolved by the simplest solution imaginable, one, I think,
that no-one but Gilbert could have invented.
J.C.G.

H.M.S. Pinafore

ACT I.
The scene is the Quarterdeck where we find the sailors busy with their various jobs, which are interrupted by the arrival of Little Buttercup. She hints at an aching heart beneath her cheerful manner and we are then introduced to other sailors, including Ralph Rackstraw, who finds himself in the unfortunate predica-ment of having lost his heart to Josephine, daughter of Captain Corcoran.The Captain tells Buttercup that although Josephine's hand in marriage is sought by Sir Joseph Porter, K.G.B., she appears to have other views. When his daughter presently confesses to him that she has lost her heart to one of his sailors, he is very per-turbed.
Sir Joseph arrives, attended by his " sisters, cousins and aunts" and he rather rashly tells Ralph that a British sailor is the equal of any man. Ralph takes this as justifying a direct approach to his loved one, but in spite of the fact that she secretly loves him, she haughtily rejects him. Driven to despair, he prepares to take his own life, whereupon Josephine confesses to her true feelings and they plan to steal ashore that very night and get married. The saturnine Dick Deadeye warns them of the folly of such proceedings.
ACT II.
Buttercup finds the Captain sentimentalising to the moon and she hints to him that she can foresee a change in store for him. Sir Joseph comes to the Captain to complain that Josephine is proving obdurate
Dick Deadeye reveals the plot to elope and the Captain is so upset that he uses a swear-word which shocks Sir Joseph, the latter is still more shocked when he learns that Josephine wants to marry Ralph and has him thrown into a dungeon.
Buttercup now confesses that as a baby-farmer in her earlier days she had mixed up two of her charges, one the Captain and the other, Ralph. These two now appear with their roles reversed and Sir Joseph, in spite of his democratic views, finds he cannot possibly marry the daughter of a common sailor. Ralph gets his Josephine and the humble Corcoran pairs off with Buttercup.
J.C.G.