Am dram is alive and well in Waltham Forest as the Chapel End Savoy Players (CESP) gears up for their latest show.

In spite of the outcry following the closure of the borough’s lone designated theatre in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow, CESP is one of several amateur dramatic societies still going strong. They’ve found a performance space at the Deaton Theatre at Snarebrook’s Forest School, where they will be staging the show this spring, and rehearsals have begun apace.

The group, which specialises in Gilbert and Sullivan productions and rehearses at St John’s Church, Walthamstow, is putting on HMS Pinafore next week and are looking forward to hitting the high notes.

Such is the group’s calibre, director Rowena Sayer, 52, travels from her home in Palmers Green to be involved with CESP.

She says: “There is a Gilbert and Sullivan group in my area but this one is really, really good. I came along to see Patience and I thought they were one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Working her way up from singing in the chorus to speaking roles, and directing The Mikado three shows previously, Rowena leads the rehearsals – once a week with the full cast and twice with the principals – and this will be her fourth show in total.

The hall may be drafty and the acoustics less than ideal, but the performers do not worry about these trifling concerns in the name of putting on a good show.

Dr Jackie Mitchell, researcher into Alzheimer’s disease by day, and long-time Gilbert and Sullivan aficionado and chair of CESP, is taking on the lead female role of Josephine.

“I joined just under three years ago,” says the 33-year-old Walthamstow resident, who won best supporting actress at the prestigious International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, Yorkshire, last summer.

“I directed last year’s production, and I was in it the year before.”

Even uncostumed in the bare church hall, with no props and no stage, the players manage to give a pretty good idea of what the show will be like and can expect to please am dram devotees from across the borough and beyond when they open next Wednesday.

The fourth collaboration by the world renowned musical partners, HMS Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan’s first commerical success and is a typically topsy-turvy tale of mistaken identity and class disparities.

And it’s productions like this one that demonstrate what amateur, and indeed professional, musical theatre should be – fun, democratic and nothing whatever to do with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The choreography may be simple and the suspension of disbelief may be a little more difficult than usual, but there’s nary a bum note in sight and some very impressive vocal talent is set to be showcased.

HMS Pinafore is at the Deaton Theatre, Forest School, Snaresbrook from Wednesday, May 13 to Saturday, May 16, 7.45pm. Saturday matinee, 3pm. Tickets: 020 8527 0215 or www.cesp.org (£5-£10)