Pirates of Penzance

Many thanks for St Leonard’s G&S Society for inviting me to see their production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance on Saturday 27th May 2023 at St Leonard’s Church. This was my second viewing of works from this society and I am very pleased the decision was taken to rehome their productions to be within this wonderful performance space, the acoustics the church brings is extraordinary, with the sound reverberating off all the walls, channelling the richness of the wonderful score throughout the room.

My biggest call out for this production was the notable diversity in ages range of the cast, ranging from school ages to those in their retirements. I personally believe diversity should be celebrated, and learning after the production that some cast members are living with dementia, made my applause for this society even more heartfelt. I loved the youth’s enthusiasm and commitment; some of the works of G&S are over a century and a half years old, and with the increase in popularity in the musical theatre genres, it is ever so important to keep this Operatta genre alive within the younger generations, so to all the youth involved, I applaud you and wish continue to be inspired by these extraordinary musical works and narratives.

Directed by Lucy Bunce, the production was of a good quality, telling a narrative of a Pirate Ship’s apprentice, Frederic, who is about to compete his 21st and final year on the ship. We learn of his story leading up to the final few days, where he meets the citizens off the ship for the first time, where he falls in love, and various other mishaps and mayhems prevent the pair being together. Of course, everything is resolved in the end and a happy ending for all is made upon resolution. The space available was used to its maximum potential, utilising the central aisles as entrances into the performance space. Across the back of the apron were painted flats within a mountainous theme across the width of the stage, to help situate the setting of the production. There was a good pace and energy throughout the production which partly was brought about by some interesting uses of staging, changed the shape of the space without the need for scene changes. The cast worded solidly as a cohesive unit and there were some wonderful uses of comedic moments throughout. I was very grateful for the plot summary within the programme again as I did get lost within the narrative but think this is more a comment on how I was mesmerised with the sound quality more than that of the construction of the performance. Costumes were of a good quality, denoting the characters within the plot as well as some of the social satires the story alluded to.

Musical Direction was undertaken by Margot Wright who delivered with finesse. As noted, before, the acoustics within this space was awe inspiring, but Margot added to this within the arrangements of the pieces. The score was underpinned by 2 keys players, which was plentiful for the arrangements, as what was stunning about the entire work was the vocal blend and dynamics which were delivered throughout. The cast was somewhat 32 members strong, with a god split between the vocal parts, which seemed to cut through each other at varying moments to amplify different parts of the harmonies at periodically within the piece, which resulted in the enchanting delivery of the score.

Now to the cast, on top of what I mentioned before, all members of the cast should be pleased with what they delivered. There were sone strong characterisations brought out through the cast and the wall of sound delivered was second to none. The delivery of this piece was super tight, and it was obvious the entire cast were enjoying themselves upon the stage. My one bug bear I need to state is a repetition from my last Sy Leonard’s review. When walking through the audience on exists and entrances, to me it is ever so more important to ensure characters are retained whilst in view, I saw a few faves to the audience during these moments of promenade. Although I entirely understand the community ethic and ease to see friends and family in such performance spaces, the execution would be ever so enhanced if the notion of self is lost from all the performers when they enter the space.

Below are a summary of my standout performances with the piece and all other named principles were great throughout and added much richness and energy to the performance.

Frederic was played by Paul Cross, who delivered well within this role. Vocally he was impeccable, delivering with ease so very complex score and harmonies. He brought about a very likable characterisation, although at times I felt his physical action could have been a little more grounded through connecting the action to the emotion and breath.

Mabel was played by Becky Dyson, who was simply outstanding in this role. Her vocal work was unfaultable and delivering some of the riffs and descants at the high end of the top soprano range sent shivers through my body (in a positive way). She had a real connection to the character, was expressive in her facial and body language and brought some real vulnerability to this character. I still have no idea how or where she found those final few notes from to literally end the production on a high note, very well done indeed Becky!

Ruth, the Pirate Maid, was played by Amy Hardy who was a joy to watch. Her personification of this character was brilliant, bringing the lyric of the work to life. Her articulation of the lyrics was crystal clear and transparently showcased the emotion behind them to bring great storytelling the role.

Chris Dodd played the Pirate King who gave a solid performance and delivered his vocal numbers with a gorgeous rich tone. Major General Stanley was played by Philip Walsh who was hilarious in this role. He had a great presence and ensery and was blown away by the diction in some of the high tempo rhythmic numbers he delivered.

Many thanks again to St Leonard’s G&S for inviting me to this wonderful production and I very much look forwards to watching more of what comes from this society.

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