The Boatswain's Mate is a battle of the sexes, that centres on the feisty Mrs Waters, a widowed landlady who has no desire to remarry. When one of her suitors, an ex-boatswain, attempts to ludicrously win her hand by concocting a fake robbery, she retaliates with aplomb. Smoking gun in hand, she proves she has no need for a knight in shining armour, but also perhaps that she's not completely hardened to the idea of love.

Given that the tune for the suffragette's anthem March of the Womenis in the overture, it is perhaps unsurprising that The Boatswain's Mate is often considered Smyth's most 'feminist' opera. There's also speculation that the protagonist is based on her great friend Emmeline Pankhurst.

Creative Team

Director - Nick Bond 
Conductor / Piano - Rebecca Warren
Designer - Elliott Squire
Lighting Designer - Rachel Cleary 
Stage Management - Sophie Gitsham + Millie Feary

Costume Supervisor - Mark Jones

Production Manager - James Anderton

Cast

Mrs Waters - Elizabeth Findon

Harry Benn - Joshua Baxter 

Ned Travers - Theo Perry 

Policeman - Richard Woodall

Chorus

Brennan Corandish 

Hamish Garrity 

Yihui Wang 

James Connolly