TRIAL BY JURY & HMS PINAFORE SA Light Opera Society (SALOS) Goodwood Institute Theatre Until 10 Sep 2006 Review by Fran Edwards In a bevy of beautiful costumes on well painted sets both of these operettas come to life. “Trial by Jury” has the necessary plain lines of a court room with the plainly dressed court officials and the judge in his scarlet robes, invaded by the pretty plaintiff bride and the smart defendant to argue the breach of contract case. “HMS Pinafore” has smartly turned out sailors, a delightfully dressed Josephine appearing on a trim, if anachronistic, ships deck. The sailor’s dark uniforms are nicely contrasted by the bright colours of the Sisters, Cousins and Aunts on their arrival. Both of the leading ladies Dione Palmer (Angelina) and Danielle Ruggerio (Josephine) have beautiful voices and are delightful in their respective roles. In “Trial by Jury” the usual strong performance by David Roberts as the Learned Judge is complemented by Alex Bond as the defendant, who at fifteen has a very bight future ahead of him. In “HMS Pinafore”, Jeff Carter is strong as the Captain, if a little forgetful, and, after only two weeks of rehearsal, Sandra Fameli looks comfortable as Buttercup. Richard Dyer is possibly the most serious Sir Joseph ever, but he sang well. Aaron MacDonald does well as the dastardly Dick Deadeye. True to their usual form the SALOS singers are beautiful and their rendition of this much loved G&S favourite is lovely to listen to. All round the music is lovely with the small orchestra coping well. The only complaint would be the tempo of some of the brighter numbers which seemed to plod. The chorus delivers the familiar numbers well and with a little more pace and a settling of first night nerves this will be a very enjoyable production. The Adelaide Theatre Guide sends its sympathy to the cast and crew of this production. Richard Dyer (Sir Joseph Porter) passed away after coming off stage recently. A funeral notice will be in the local paper shortly.