THE temporary closure of Worcester’s Swan Theatre has prompted one company to go on tour. Great Witley Operatic Society (GWOS) will take its 2009 production of comic opera HMS Pinafore on the road next year, first to the Norbury Theatre in Droitwich and then to The Rose in Kidderminster.

It will mean unfamiliar surroundings for the amateur company that performs at the Swan every year but the capable cast are unfazed.

“This has been a wonderful opportunity for us,” said Kimberley Kainey, who has been a member of GWOS for seven years.

“GWOS will definitely relish the challenge. Firstly, to perform in unfamiliar surroundings is both fun and exciting and secondly the chance to perform in two local towns is a blessing.

“It gives us the ability to recruit new members and create a wider audience who will hopefully follow us back to Worcester.”

Savoy opera HMS Pinafore is considered Gilbert and Sullivan’s first big hit. The fourth show together, it opened at the Opera Comique in London in May 1878 and tells of love crossing social class boundaries.

“We have taken many steps to prepare for HMS Pinafore,” said Kainey.

“Not least because of the logistics of performing at two theatres but because we’ve extended our usual run from one week of six performances, to eight over two weeks.

“We’ve been extremely lucky in that one of our members has designed a set to fit both theatres which differ in size.”

The show will run at the Norbury from Thursday, March 26, to Saturday, March 28, and at the Rose from Thursday, April 2, until Saturday, April 4.

For tickets, call Droitwich on 01905 710154, Kidderminster on 01562 743745 or visit gwos.net.