A Penchant for Pinafore! Meet Gilbert & Sullivan expert John Savournin

When John Savournin steps on stage as Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, he hopes the audience will have as great a time as he intends to have.

Savournin says: ‘Gilbert was very skilled in writing
what are, essentially, sitcoms – situation comedies.
He was a master at putting the social world under
a microscope, dreaming up slightly larger-than life
characters and inserting them into peculiar
situations to see what might emerge.

‘And Sullivan is the perfect foil, complementing
Gilbert’s acerbic wit with charming music that
takes itself quite seriously, giving the operas their
unique integrity.

For ENO he has played Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe and Alcindoro in La bohème. It’s also his second time playing Captain Corcoran for ENO as he was in the cast when this Cal McCrystal production of HMS Pinafore was first performed by ENO in 2021.

He’s also an established director, most recently directing The Merry Widow for Scottish Opera, in a co-production with Opera Holland Park and D’Oyly Carte Opera, The Yeomen of the Guard for Opera Holland Park, and a children’s opera for the Royal Ballet and Opera. He was recently appointed Artistic Director of Waterperry Opera Festival.

More than that, adds Savournin, the bass-baritone role of Captain Corcoran is very rewarding to perform.

“Captain Corcoran’s music is quite lyrical at times, but there’s a lot of word play to enjoy, too. He holds a relatively unique place in the Gilbert & Sullivan canon, as there aren’t many other roles to which you can compare him. It’s a classy role and I’ve very much enjoyed finding my version of him.”

‘‘[HMS Pinafore is] pure musical theatre – with comedy, pathos, music and dancing, all wrapped up in one rip-roaring show.
“Cal’s mission [director Cal McCrystal] is to make the audience really laugh – and, of course, the audience is a very important part of any comedy: a character in its own right, if you will. Hopefully, people in the audience find enjoyment in our performances, but we get just as much of a thrill from seeing and hearing them really enjoying themselves. It’s a big part of what theatre is all about – that special human connection between performer and audience.”

Theatre is a world Savournin has loved since his parents introduced him to it when he was a boy in Sheffield.

“My mum and dad were both keen amateur performers and they passed their passion onto me. They loved G&S in particularly, and the then brand-new Gilbert & Sullivan Festival was staging a youth production in Buxton, so they took me along to audition. My first role was as the judge in Trial By Jury, aged 11.

“Gilbert and Sullivan have been a part of my life almost since birth. I always love coming back to them, and this time is no exception.”