H.M.S. Pinafore, or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth collaboration and their first big hit when it premiered in London in 1878.

The nautical romp, which satirised Victorian England, still has plenty to say in its observations on the class system, status, hierarchy and equality. Structurally the bones of the piece are sound, and the perky tunes and gloriously witty lyrics with their famous tongue-twisters still raise many a delighted laugh. But played traditionally, G & S shows feel pretty dated for a 21st-century audience.

Bobbie-Jean Henning, Rory O’Keefe and Jermaine Chau in H.M.S. Pinafore. Photograph © Phil Erbacher

Not so here. Sticking faithfully to what G & S wrote (with the occasional trim, and witty lyric change), director Kate Gaul reinvigorates the comic operetta for an audience today, giving it a fabulous, fresh spin with her gloriously camp, glittery, cross-gender production, produced by Hayes Theatre Co.

The flimsy story takes place aboard the H.M.S. Pinafore. One of the able seamen Ralph Rackstraw – “the smartest lad in all the fleet” – has fallen in love with Josephine, the daughter of the captain, and she returns his affection. However, her...