DON your bell-bottoms and ask permission to come aboard Pocket Theatre's very own version of Gilbert and Sullivan's naughty, nautical, knockdown romp, HMS Pinafore.

The show features a madcap mix of sailors, singing, ships, whips, piranhas, panties, shanties and sauce.

The company, who have made a name for themselves with small-scale, high energy productions including last year's pantomime, Cinderella, comprises of a dozen talented performers who have made their names with the region’s operatic societies and youth theatres and between them have racked up a host of Daily Echo Curtain Call awards.

The show features Pocket favourite Mark Ponsford, as an adorable Little Buttercup, alongside Abigail Miller as a mustachioed Captain Corcoran, Lisa Axworthy as lusty Ralph Rackstraw and Pocket newcomer Katie Hickson as a lascivious Sir Joseph Porter.

Director David Tatnall said: “Our decision to cast all the roles as cross-gender has really made for some interesting characterisations! Sailors in Victorian times had a reputation for being ‘light on their feet’ whilst the ladies at sea would certainly have needed to be tough to survive – and our casting reflects this.”

The show runs nightly from Tuesday to Friday at Hanger Farm Arts Centre in Totton.

Call 023 8066 7683 for tickets.