If anybody asks me to list all the shows I've seen in 2006 in order of preference then Opera della Luna's delightfully witty and energetic version of HMS Pinafore would be a serious contender for top spot. This slightly reduced version of Gilbert and Sullivan's nautical operetta is so full of fun and silliness it's almost exhausting. I can't remember the last time I laughed at any G&S production as much as I did at this one.

Musically, too, the production hits the mark with eight exceptional singers, ably supported by The Massed Band of the Pinafore, which in reality is five instrumentalists, including director Jeff Clarke at the piano, who are all on stage as part of the crew.

The production opens with a naval drum roll, to which all the crew march smartly on to the stage and then proceed to assemble the set with much sailor-like cheering and banter. The production then runs more or less along normal lines but with chorus material cut or adapted and most of the cast taking at least two parts. Philip Cox, for instance, having appeared as the wickedly michievous Dick Dead-Eye, then reappears in drag as Sir Joseph's aunt and nearly steals the scene with his witty asides and some well-planned nose-blowing.

Sir Joseph - played with comic precision by Simon Butteriss - is still struggling to find his sea legs, and seems to have an eye not only for Josephine but for Ralph as well. The young lovers are strongly sung and acted by Fiona Hammacott and Oliver White. Louise Crane is an unusually glamorous Little Buttercup. Carolyn Allen is a mischievous Hebe and Ian Belsey an exaggerated upper-class Corcoran, while Martin George's Boatswain sings He Is An Englishman with full patriotic fervour.

This feast was good enough to tempt me along for a second helping on the Wednesday night. Once just isn't enough when a show is this good. If you missed it this time, you can catch it at Cheltenham's Bacon Theatre on November 4. (Box office 01242 258002.)