THE STAGE Barbara Lewis
SOCIETY OF LONDON THEATRE Matthew
Amer
UK THEATRE NETWORK Richard
Woulfe
THE WHARF Lucy Walters
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE Bronagh
Taggart
TIME OUT Kieron Quirke
in SE1 Mary Couzens
THE STAGE Barbara Lewis
The
plots are preposterous and the references obsolete but Gilbert and
Sullivan can still entertain a modern audience - especially when their
Pirates of Penzance is performed in the apt setting of the Golden
Hinde, Francis Drake’s 16th century ship.
Apart from the venue, the strength of this easy-going production,
directed by Andrew Miller, is in the performers’ infectious
enjoyment, sense of fun and spontaneous ad-libbing that enhances the
intimacy between actors and audience. The casting is also spot on.
Frederic,
the extraordinarily unworldly pirate apprentice, is played by a charming,
innocent-looking Alex Weatherhill. He harmonises with Mabel, only
the sixth woman he has seen in his 21 years, sung with gusto by Emma
Clare, and breaks the heart of the plaintive, ageing Ruth (Jane de
Florez).
Mabel is one of the five spirited daughters of a suitably pompous
Major General (Garry Bailey). His pirate equivalent is Luke Tudball,
the dashing Pirate King, who heads a motley, yet full-voiced crew.
The social chasm between outlaws and supposedly upright citizens closes
almost as swiftly as it opened to make way for the escapist, happy
ending that will always have relevance as an antidote to troubled
times.
SOCIETY OF LONDON THEATRE Matthew
Amer
If
there was a list of ideal places to stage The Pirates Of Penzance,
a replica galleon would probably be fairly near the top, possibly
just underneath a desert island complete with a large X to mark the
spot. Ocean Theatre Company has achieved just that – the galleon,
not the desert island – and currently performing Gilbert and
Sullivan’s comic opera aboard The Golden Hinde, the replica
of Sir Francis Drake’s own ship. Matthew Amer dusted off his
sea legs for the first night…
Should
you ever meet a pirate, pray he comes from Penzance, for the buccaneers
of Gilbert and Sullivan’s imagination are less blood-thirsty
hoodlums intent on raping, pillaging and generally nefarious activities,
and more mild-mannered boat-lovers who occasionally steal but always
say please and thank you.
Young
Frederick is apprenticed to this merry band, though at the turn of
his 21st birthday he leaves his mildly evil life behind and sets out
to bring down his former colleagues. He also falls in love with the
daughter of a Major General – who happens to have a number of
sisters that the pirates quite like the look of. Of course, the pirates
don’t take kindly to Fred’s change of heart and try to
stop him.
To
call the venue intimate may do it a disservice. With the audience
sitting on both sides of the galleon and on deck for the first half,
pirates, girls and modern Major Generals climb among and about the
theatregoers. Andrew Miller’s direction makes the most of the
circumstances, drawing the audience into the performance as the actors
directly interact with them. Neither the pirates nor the feisty sisters
remain quiet during songs – and why would they? – instead
they mutter and banter with each other and the audience.
The
show’s second half moves the action onto the wonderfully musty
and dank lower deck, which comes complete with ropes, beams, barrels
and chests. Comically timid policemen – think harmonising Keystone
cops – and those polite pirates, this time with murder in mind,
hide behind props, audience members and their hands as they go about
their business in the smallest of performance spaces.
Among
the performers, Luke Tudball is a cocky, bold and brash Pirate King,
Garry Bailey a sufficiently doddery Major General and Emma Clare a
predatory Mabel, with the cast’s outstanding voice.
Set
partially in the open air, the actors have to battle with the elements
– with last night’s rain creating a sea mist effect –
and the sounds of nearby revellers, but the spirit of the performance
makes this Pirates Of Penzance a timber-shivering, parrot-fancying
romp… and there’s not a peg leg in sight.
UK THEATRE NETWORK Richard
Woulfe
5 Stars
Now,
would you want your daughters to marry a bunch of pirates (not particularly
successful ones at that)? I didn’t think so. And
if you were 47 and had your hopes pinned on a 21-year-old guy who
only thinks you attractive as he has new seen another woman, it’s
a fair bet you wouldn’t be best pleased when a bevy of beauties
turn up.
In case you haven’t worked it out yet, this is not “real”.
Nor is an ethical dilemma being thrown at you. No, it’s
the Ocean Theatre Company performing The Pirates of Penzance by that
jolly Victorian couple, Gilbert and Sullivan. Doing so on a
real boat – well, a reconstructed one anyway – the Golden
Hinde, ship of England’s greatest pirate, Francis Drake.
It might not be the boat what makes the show – but it certainly
is a big part. As the 16 actors use the space – both above
and below deck – in this pacy performance. The actors
at times mingle and interact with the audience – not in an obtrusive
way, but by little touches (asking somebody to hold an umbrella, for
example, or by asking questions which don’t demand a reply).
If the actors are in the audience, the audience is on the stage.
On the stage to witness singing of a high quality, costumes reminiscent
of the era, a pirate band whose score greatly adds to the evening.
It is always a little unfair to pick out individual performances when
each performer has played a part but I will choose four and hope that
the rest will take this praise as extending to them also: Sarah
Applewood ( a daughter) for her sprightliness, Gerald Bailey (the
father) for his bearing and delivery, Jane de Florez (the 47-year-old)
for making her character so sympathetic, Adrian Jon Barry (a Pirate)
for some deft comic moments and a clear singing voice.
Finally, the direction team need to be mentioned. What makes
the whole show so successful is the decision taken to make those scene
changes seem seamless. Gilbert and Sullivan go in for enjoyment
first and this is just what is served up here. It is rare to
see an audience as happy as this – you have until September
the 3rd to get on board.
THE WHARF Lucy Walters
WHAT
better way to experience The Pirates of Penzance than on a real-life
galleon?
Well,
this summer you can do just that and join the Pirate King and his
band of rogues on the Golden Hinde as they seek to outwit the Major
General and romance his daughters in the Gilbert and Sullivan classic.
Setting
the musical on a replica of Sir Francis Drake's 16th century galleon
lends a certain authenticity to Ocean Theatre Company's summer musical
- but don't expect the plush comforts of a purpose-built theatre.
Conditions
are slightly cramped. On the plus side, you feel almost like you are
a part of the procedings as flamboyant pirates swoop down onto the
deck and the ladies rustle past in their skirts.
And
the actors' habit of addressing asides to the audience and diving
between the seats adds to the inclusive feel of the production.
The action starts above deck as Frederick announces his intention
to leave the swashbuckling pirate band and the actors surround their
audience with much swaggering, whooping and clashing of tankards
After
the interval the production moves inside and the audience makes its
way below deck, negotiating low ceilings and steep stairs.
If
anything, you are drawn even further into the production as the pirates
renew their claim on Frederick's loyalty and the booming Major General
assembles his hapless constabulary.
The
Golden Hinde, berthed at St Mary Overie Dock near London Bridge, never
actually leaves port but the talented and energetic cast assembled
by Ocean succeed in taking you on a nautical journey nonetheless.
BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE Bronagh
Taggart
Holding
a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance on
the deck of a ship in volatile British weather is either a stroke
of genius or an act of folly. At one point during last night's performance
when the rain came down, it seemed to lean towards the latter. But
Andrew Miller (who founded The Ocean Theatre Company in Brisbane in
1996), is not the sort of director without a Plan B, so we were all
summoned below deck like hostages to fortune until the rain had died
down.
If
anything, this brief sojourn in the added to the atmosphere and didn't
spoil the performance or fun everyone was having. Consistent with
their characters, the chorus of pirates seemed a thoroughly hardy
lot and sang with even more gusto.
First
performed for one night only in 1879 in Paignton, the operetta is
now one of the most popular and best known of the works of Gilbert
and Sullivan. Its themes of honour, duty and love combined with comic
frivolity have allowed it to stand the test of time very well. The
music is excellent (here under the direction of Peter White) with
songs such as "I am the very model of a modern Major-General"
and "When the felon's not engaged in his employment" benefit
from being so familiar that the audience are waiting anxiously for
them to be sung.
And
so to the unashamedly improbable plot. Frederic (Alex Weatherill)
by an implausible accident has been apprenticed to a group of hopeless
pirates. He tells his boss the Pirate King (Luke Tudball) that he
plans to leave his employ on his twenty-first birthday, which happens
to be today. Not only that, he also plans to shop his former colleagues
to the police.
Ironically,
Frederic is the only passable pirate among them. The others are too
soft-hearted to be successful - vulnerable to any old sob-story, particularly
from orphans; even when the orphan in question comes in the large
shape of a Major-General (Garry Bailey) whose daughters the pirates
want to marry. Stung into action, the Pirate King finds a loophole
which will keep Frederic on their side. Because he was born in a leap
year on the 29th February, he will not celebrate his 21st birthday
until 1940 and therefore cannot break his apprenticeship until then.
But this is a comedy after all and the play cannot end on anything
so downbeat. Suffice it to say, Frederic wins the daughter he desires,
saves a few souls and does the right thing in the end for Queen and
country.
The
ship does not allow much room for movement once the audience is on
board, so Miller made a virtue out of this, by forcing the pirates
and, later, the daughters to mingle and interact with the audience.
He also used every inch of the ship with various members of the cast
popping up from all sorts of unusual places.
The
first act is played entirely outdoors on the top deck (everyone moves
downstairs for Act Two). Apart from the weather there are other hazards
and initially the cast have to compete against the noisy wine-bar
culture on the docks. Some of the cast with less strong voices had
trouble straining against this, most notably in the opening scenes.
However, the entrance of the four Daughters (Sarah Applewood, Laura
Cotton, Helen McBriarty and Angharad Walter) lifted proceedings both
vocally and visually - they all engaged well with the audience at
close range and without embarrassment.
Alex
Weatherill's comic timing and clear voice made him an effective lead.
He was both an enthusiastic pirate, and believably naïve about
the possibilities of romance. His duet "Stay, Fred'ric, stay"
with his love interest Mabel (Emma Clare) was sad and compelling.
Emma Clare has a good soprano voice, well suited to musical theatre.
Garry Bailey as the Major-General gave a performance that had shades
of Tory MP Boris Johnson but that's no bad model for the bumbling
Major-General.
The
Pirates of Penzance has been performed in the open air before, most
notably in Regent's Park in 2001. However, this production takes us
one step closer to reality. My companion went so far as to suggest
there was a market to be had in hiring a boat and taking the production
round the world in it. Whether or not that's feasible, it makes a
rollickingly good swashbuckler of an evening.
TIME OUT Kieron Quirke
The
chance to see this wonderfully stupid tale of the pirate apprentice
born in a leap year aboard Mr Drake’s very own pirate ship is
one of this summer’s more special theatrical offerings.
Given this, Ocean Theatre could be accused of turning golden opportunity
into bronze reality.
True,
they are up against it in the staging. The Hinde, whose deck provides
the setting for the first half, before a move below for the second,
is not a capacious boat. There are also the inevitable outdoor acoustic
problems and, in the first half, the chorus numbers come out all bass
or alto depending where you’re sitting.
Yet,
mostly, the cast ride these difficulties, picking their way amid audience
members with many an endearing wink and aside. This is a production
that plays hard for goodwill and gets it. Unfortunately, it also needs
it, for there’s a lack of quality in crucial areas. Soprano
screeches regularly grate the ears, and the enthusiastic male chorus
sometimes find it hard singing the same note. The star turns also
vary wildly in quality – a fine Frederick, a solid Major-General,
a Ruth who doesn’t seem to be trying.
Yet,
this being G&S, it doesn’t take opera stars or major comedians
to hold things together. In the second act, with audibility no longer
a problem, the enduring silliness of Gilbert’s script wins through.
The culminating attack and arrest of the pirates is as comically exhilarating
as it should be, and I didn’t see a glum face in the crowd.
Amateurish stuff, but good amateurish stuff.
in SE1 Mary Couzens
What
a marvelous setting this lightest of all Gilbert and Sullivan operettas
has found aboard The Golden Hinde! As balmy breezes wafted over us
on deck, we glimpsed the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral on the opposite
shore dazzling in the dwindling rays of the sun. A glance in the opposite
direction allowed us to cast our eyes over the lofty towers of Southwark
Cathedral, which this faithful replica of Sir Francis Drake's sailing
ship is harboured near. Those who arrived at the dock early enough
sat on benches running along either side of its decks. Later arrivals
seated themselves in the centre area, where they were instructed to
keep their legs up on the platform, well out of the aisles. The pirate
king and his colourful crew then leapt onboard, and burst into hearty
song en masse. Many a landlubber was forced to linger in the street
below, trying to catch a glimpse of the lively proceedings in vain.
For Ocean Theatre's irresistible production of Gilbert and Sullivan's
tongue in cheek answer to H.M.S. Pinafore, (which did not amuse Queen
Victoria or The Royal Navy in the least), The Pirates of Penzance
was completely sold-out.
Twenty-year-old
Fredrick has mistakenly been apprenticed to a pirate king, instead
of to a pilot, as he wished to be. His nurse Ruth's ready acknowledgment
of her mistake does nothing to free Fredrick from his indenture, which
is scheduled to end on his twenty-first-birthday. However, the pirate
king, and his crew are unusually tender hearted, in that they have
been known to release captives if they are orphans. Ruth, the middle-aged
pirate maid is the only female Frederick has ever seen - until The
Major General's five beautiful daughters decide to come on board…
There is little, if anything to fault in this fine production. All
of the players seem to relish their roles and play them with an enthusiasm
that is highly infectious. And the wide-ranging, thoroughly delightful
musical score is performed by a small group of musicians who are as
vibrant as they are talented.
Alex Weatherhill is well cast as Fredrick, the likeable lad who wonders
whether all lasses are middle aged, heavy limbed and lined. His strong
emotive voice tackles rousing numbers with seeming ease, and sends
his side of sentimental duets with true love Mabel into the sky above
in the first act, and swelling into the rafters below in the second.
Emma Clare as Mabel employs her thrilling voice to advantage on her
numbers, designed to allow her to scale the heights, to the great
pleasure of her audience. Sarah Applewood, Laura Cotton, Helen McBriarty
and Angharad Walter, as daughters Kate, Hannah, Isabel and Edith all
display great comedic and vocal skills in their roles. When Applewood
good-naturedly intermingles with the crowd, she sets a new level of
interactive fun in motion. Garry Bailey brilliantly plays the girls'
commanding father - The Major General, who sputters and frets his
way through his hilarious songs and scenes. Bailey generates many
laugh-out loud moments as he holds his head aloft, feathered hat in
place, whilst singing his alternatingly boastful or self-pitying songs.
Conversely, Luke Tudball makes a fine Pirate King, swashing his buckles
and shivering many a timber as he struts across the deck. His vocal
rendition of A Pirate King Am I is one of the undisputed highlights
of the evening. Andrew James Storey adds his own comic touches to
the role of Sergeant of Pirates, and his songs and interactions with
his fellow players, as well with the audience add much. But where
would a Pirate King and Sergeant be without their crew? Adrian-Jon
Barry as Samuel, and fellow pirates, Simon Dobson, Thomas Hopkins
and John Rogerson enliven the proceedings no end with their gutsy
singing and humorous, often highly physical high jinks.
Ocean
Theatre's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's frothy operetta The
Pirates of Penzance is a rare treat not to be missed. But it is only
being performed aboard the Golden Hinde until September 3rd. So hurry
and get your tickets. This is one boat you won't want to miss!
FROM THE PUBLIC:
Truly a magnificent fun evening cavorting
with the Pirates on Saturday, many thanks!
I
saw this and absolutely *loved* it. I thought the cast were superb,
and that thesetting
aboard the Golden Hinde really added to the sense of excitement. A
great summer evening out, and wonderfully enjoyable!!
We
attended your last performance of the season of "The Pirates
of Penzance" and I just wanted to say what a wonderful performance
it was. We travel to London for short breaks several times a year
and always take in a show or two, and I must say this was the best
we have been to all year, far better than anything we have seen in
the West End theatres. The setting was great, and the cast brilliant.
We really felt part of the performance as it was happing all around
us. It was only by chance that we found out about it after searching
the web for "What's on" , how lucky we are that we did.
Congratulations
on 'Pirates' on the Golden Hinde. I really enjoyed the
performance last night, and I'm just amazed that you could pull off
the
logistics of directing the show in such a confined space. The second
act in
particular seemed to be full of far more people than were in the cast
list!
It was tremendous fun.
Last
night we went to see 'Pirates of Penzance' on board the Golden Hind
and there are just two words to sum up the performance - absolutely
fantastic! It is the first time I have seen this Gilbert & Sullivan
masterpiece and what an introduction to it!
We enjoyed it so much we have just booked to go again on the last
night.
