The Pirates of Penzance

I arrived late due to a Motorway closure, to discover that the start had been delayed as some cast and band members had also been held up.  The children from Westbury-on-Trym Church of England Academy, who were singing Sea Shanties to help create a nautical atmosphere, covered the delay beautifully.  Piratical members of the cast were showing the audience to their seats and asking people to sign a birthday card for Frederick, it got the show off to a good start.  The opening set which was visible as you walked in, took you straight to the deck of the pirate ship with look-out, rigging and prow, draped in a ‘Jolly Roger’, facing out into the audience.  Later the flag was removed to reveal a figurehead of Queen Victoria when The Pirate King proclaims, ”with all our faults we love our Queen”.  The addition of a catwalk, which had been constructed to surround the musicians, gave more acting area.  The set looked so solid I did wonder how it would be removed from this small stage, which has very little offstage area.  At the appropriate moment, while action continued on the catwalk, the cast started to change the scene, which melted almost imperceptibly into a rocky Cornish cove, it was very well done.  The set for the second Act of a ruined chapel was atmospheric and worked well.  The lighting had been sympathetically designed to help create the time of day and weather, and the catwalk was well lit.  The lighting effect in the fight between the pirates and police was well coordinated and effective and all the sound effects were well cued.  The make up team had a challenge, making the members of the fairer sex look like pirates with stubbly beards, which even close up looked convincing. Most of the costumes had been well coordinated and were worn with confidence.  I was a little disappointed with The Pirate King, although he sang well, he did not seem confident in his role, he did not have the edge of authority the part requires.  The other members of the cast seemed confident in their roles creating well-rounded characters.  Ruth was well played as a lady passed her prime desperate not to be rejected by a young man.  Her explanation of how Frederic ended up with the motley crew ‘When Frederic was a little lad’ was clearly sung, as was ‘A Paradox’, where Ruth and The Pirate King relish telling Frederic he is still a pirate.  Mabel and Frederic worked well together creating a believable relationship, they both sang well.  The daughters had all developed individual identities, the way the show had been adapted gave each one the opportunity to show their voices.  They all reacted well to Frederic and the pirates.  Miss Clutterbuck had created a lovely cameo role, trying to preserve the virtue of the daughters from the pirates.  Major-General Stanley took command when he arrived.  He sang ‘I am the very model of a modern Major-General very clearly and established the humour of the character from the start, a lovely portrayal.  It was unfortunate that there was a lack of men in the cast as the correct vocal balance could not be achieved, but the ladies embraced their male guises with enthusiasm, and the men worked very hard to address the balance.  Musical Director Roger Winter had created some lovely arrangements, the numbers were taken at a good pace, but not so fast that you could not hear the words.  He was always in control of singers and musicians.  This was Pete Berry’s directorial debut and what a brave man he was to give the company the challenge of a G&S, which was a musical genre very few had previously experienced.  He had introduced two additional songs from the Mikado and extra dialogue.  He had worked hard with his cast and encouraged them to make the most of the humour in the show.  Well done everyone.

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