The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance is one of the more popular of the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, with the story centering around a pirate named Frederic.  He reaches the age of 21 and so is allowed to complete his apprenticeship as a pirate and leave his rollicking band, only to discover that the small print in the contract doesn’t allow for this.

It was lovely to enter the hall to a packed audience, which is gratifying in this day and age. It is a lovely village hall with some good lighting and a pull-out stage. The staging consisted of two hand painted backdrops.  One of a seascape set in a cove with cliffs surrounding, and another of a broken down ruin set in relative darkness.  They were both nicely illustrative of the general location of each act. The seascape had the obligatory seagull we’ve come to expect of a Staveley production!  I wonder if he has a name?

Our 21 year old hero, Frederic was played by Peter Bowden.  Peter has an excellent singing voice and stage presence and, while getting a few giggles from the audience when he clarified his age, put up a good show - it is a huge role and was nicely played. 

Frederic’s love interest who swept him off his feet was the superb Leigh Rhianon Coggins, who effortlessly glided around the stage while showcasing her amazing vocal prowess.  She made a convincing Mabel and entertained the audience, really bringing out the comedy of her character too. 

Ruth was played by Jo Worton - as well as working hard on the production she did great justice to this role.  We could really see the disappointment in her eyes that her young “man” couldn’t see beyond her age and “looks”.  She acted and sang very nicely indeed. 

The Pirate King, Brian Lancaster worked very well in this role.  You could tell he was keeping in mind the punchline of the show (that they’re actually all noblemen gone wrong) That meant that he was a little less piratical than some interpretations and a little more noble in his character - it makes for an easier transition at the end, and everything falls into place.  Brian acted and sang nicely. 

We also had Major-General Stanley, played by John Reid.  John looked and sounded very confident in this role, and I really think the part suited him.  I think his only weak point came when there was a deviation from his main song, the much loved, “I am the very model of a modern Major General”, which was performed with confidence and precision. The encore didn’t quite work for me, but that could be the writing of it as well as the confidence in it. 

Sometimes additions to scripts work well and sometimes they don’t quite sit so well.  It is quite usual to do something different in this part of the show, though, so it is always interesting to see what a society will do at this point.  John’s introduction into Hail Poetry was nicely performed. 

In this show, as well as the pirates, we have another famous force, that being the policemen, led by Iain Lamb (Sergeant of Police).  Iain did a stirling job in bringing out the comedy of this role with lots of appropriate reactions to Mabel’s suggestion that he should lead his group to their deaths.  He had good voice, singing nicely, and good stage presence.  His comic part added lightness to the show and was well cast. 

Vanessa Edwards played the role of Edith, singing her songs very well in the “Rocky Mountains” and “Foeman” scenes.  Val Still played the role of Kate, again showing another excellent singing voice.  Samuel was played by Chris Worton who sang his part very nicely and with confidence. 

We must also mention the two youngsters in the production, Hazel Edwards who played Isobel and Ben Brevitt who played Constable James and a Pirate.  These two did their society proud by acting and performing very well indeed.  The audience certainly noticed the pair of these as they showed confidence in their characters and clear line delivery.  Well done to them both - I hope we’ll see more of these two as their skills develop. 

The chorus for this show was good with clear harmonies coming across, good diction and timing and everyone working towards the common goal of telling the story.  People mostly kept in character during the show.  The society look in a very strong position with the cast I saw on stage and this is very encouraging for future shows too.

The show was accompanied by a good orchestra which did the society proud.  One of the delights of Gilbert and Sullivan is listening to the orchestra.  The audience were very appreciative of it and gave undivided attention to it until the last note, well after the curtains had closed from the bows.  The show was musically very strong, and David Tattersall as Musical Director must be very pleased with this.

Costumes were effective and appropriate throughout - the occasional pirate had hats that looked a little “fancy dress” / Pirates of the Caribbean. The cast were well turned out, but care should be taken when entering the stage for the first time to make sure things are as expected - one cast member had their jacket tucked into their pocket for 15 minutes, which you cannot help but notice as an audience member.  While it doesn’t affect the story, your eye is drawn to it.  Little costume mishaps are very common in shows, so perhaps it’s worth having a routine in place before actors go on stage as actors invariably miss the odd thing.  Some of the pirates swords were switched for fencing “swords”, which looked a little odd but was presumably down to availability of props.  The props for the “Cat Like Tread” took a comedic turn with comedy items for the life preserver etc.  This was appreciated by the audience who took it in the spirit intended.

What could be improved?  I think it’s important to consider areas we could work on for any production, and these should be taken lightly and not as serious criticism for an otherwise super and enjoyable show.  Casting wise, it’s evident that Frederic did not seem remotely close to his character’s age. It’s very rare that any Gilbert and Sullivan society can manage that, and this was handled well by Peter.  The casting also affects the relationships within the show - audiences enjoy seeing the relationships develop and change, whether they’re lovers,  friends, family, colleagues, enemies and so on. As an example, I found it was a little hard to believe in the relationships between Frederic and Mabel and to a certain extent Frederic and Ruth.  (Although “Ah leave me not to pine alone”, was beautifully performed by both.) 

In terms of pacing in the show, it felt that the end of the Major General’s song was one of the moments that the pace dropped a little, where the additional “reprise” was added, and again a dip at the beginning of “When a Felon”. When we have good pace in a well known and popular part of the show, it can sometimes detract by adding more to the dialogue.  These are all choices, and sometimes they can (and did) work and sometimes it just slows things down.  

The use of swords: these sharp pointy things were invariably grabbed in all manner of ways, sometimes including the handles!  I would encourage the cast to use their imagination to endow their props with the weight (and sharpness) they deserve so that they look the part and remain believable.  I set aside this comment for the end of the show where all bets were off and people’s necks were being wrung by grabbing both sides of the swords, because we’ve now clearly moved into a more abstract and farcical part of the story, and that’s fine, it’s more the difference between “deliberate” and “careless”.

Overall the show was very well performed, conveying the story very well and an excellent night’s entertainment.  Jo and Chris Worton as Co-Producers must be very pleased with the good reception it received, and rightly so.  There is plenty to celebrate in this production and I should hope those “even better if” bits in the review are taken very lightly as the production was very good.  Well done to the cast and crew on an enjoyable production.

 

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