In Wellington Comic Opera’s 2025 production of The McCardo, public servants and the British court system are lampooned in a colourful romp in which, ultimately, love triumphs over the obstacles strewn in its way. Familiar tunes like ‘The Sun Whose rays’, Tit Willow’, ‘A Wand’ring Minstrel I’ and ‘Three Little Maids from School are We’, will keep you smiling, and the absurdity of the familiar patter song, ‘I’ve Got a Little List’, will have you laughing out loud. Set in the Scottish Highlands, the main characters must negotiate the decrees of the clan chief McCardo, the machinations of the ‘Minister of Everything’, Pooh-Bah, and the incompetence of the newly appointed Lord High Executioner, Ko-Ko. Sparkling music and cutting wit from the enduring pens of WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan will carry you to a satisfying conclusion in which the ‘threatened cloud has passed away’ and everyone ‘with joyous shout’ can enjoy a brighter, happier future.