“York Opera’s take on Gilbert and Sullivan classic The Pirates of Penzance is a wonderful comedic romp through slapstick blunders and soaring vocals with an impressive cast of more than 50 performers.”
Pirates of Penzance is Gilbert and Sullivan’s seminal light opera - loved for its well-known line ups of songs, such as With Cat-Like Tread, Poor Wand’ring One, and I am the very Model of a Modern Major General. The heady mix of delightful tunes, and on-stage topsy-turvy made this one of York Opera’s most popular productions to-date, and an introduction to opera for many new audiences on the York theatre scene.
Act 1
On the coast of Cornwall, a group of pirates celebrate the 21st birthday of one of their number, Frederic, who when he was a mere 8 years old was apprenticed to their leader, the Pirate King, until he came of age. His nursery maid, Ruth, reminds the pirates that she misheard her instruction to apprentice Frederic to a pilot. Because of her continuing attachment to him, she is now the pirates’ maid of all work.
Frederick tells the pirates that on leaving them it will be his duty to destroy them and he is a sloave of duty. For the same reason, and since he is a pirate until noon that day, he feels obliged to tell the pirates why they are unable to make any money. Because they are all orphans, they refuse to rob other orphans and everyone whom they assail claim to be an orphan. The pirates happily leave Ruth and Frederic together.
Frederic has never seen another woman and thus begins to accede to Ruth’s request to take her with him. He asks if she is beautiful, and she says that she thinks she is. Frederic trusts her word and says that their great age difference will not be a bar to their marriage.
Just them, however, hearing girlish voices, Frederic spots a bevy of beautiful young women approaching. He realises that Ruth has misled him about her looks, and rejects her, despite her desperate pleas. She leaves, distraught. Frederic then tells the girls that he is a pirate, but soon will not be one. He asks if any of the girls will marry him, and they all reject him; all, that is, except one - Mabel.
The pirate crew arrives and each grabs a girl. The girls’ father, Major-General Stanley, then demands to know their intentions; and he objects strongly when they tell him that they intend to marry his daughters. He claims to have an aversion to pirates as sons-in-law; the pirates in turn express their aversion to having Major-Generals as fathers-in-law. Yet they graciously consent to lay that consideration aside. The Major-General (of course) then claims to be an orphan and they dutifully release him, thus renouncing their opportunity to marry, much to their sorry - and that of his daughters.
Act 2
We next see the Major-General, his daughters, and Frederic in a chapel on the “family” estate. Actually, the Major-General has bought it quite recently, along - he claims - with its ancestors. He is now suffering sleeplessness from guilt about the lie that he has told the pirates about his being an orphan. Frederic, asked to help, has a cunning plan to defeat the pirates in their lair.
He is, however, stopped in his tracks by they Pirate Kind and Ruth, who spring an equally cunning surprise upon him. The contract governing his apprenticeship obliges him to serve, not until his twenty-first year but until his twenty-first birthday. And since he was born in a leap year, this will be quite some time in the distant future. He works out the numbers for himself and accepts that he is technically only five years old. They then remind him of his duty and require him to discharge his obligations to his fellow pirates. Frederic, the slave of duty, accepts the inevitable. He is thus obliged to reveal that Major-General Stanley has admitted to not being an orphan. The Pirate King vows revenge: the Major-General is doomed.
Mabel fails to dissuade Frederic, whose sense of duty again apparently prompts him to side with the pirates. But, strange to say, thanks to Mabel, his cunning plan is already in force. He has arranged for a posse of policemen to attack the pirates. They arrive just in time to try to stop the pirates taking their dire revenge on the Major-General. When the policemen show serious reluctance to attack, they are forcibly urged on by the girls, much to their chagrin.
The pirates naturally defeat the cowardly police. But the police sergeant swiftly turns the tables on them. He asks that they yield in the name of Queen Victoria - and, purely at the mention of it, they of course surrender immediately. But, before they can be hauled off to the bar, Ruth points out that the pirates are really all noblement who have gone wrong. Out of mere respect for all members of the House of Peers, despite any crimes that they may have committed, the Major-General declares them forgiven and offers them his daughters in marriage - much to everyone’s joy and relief.
Cast
Cast
Major-General Stanley
John Soper
The Pirate King
Ian Thompson-Smith
Samuel
James Wood
Frederic
Hamish Brown
Sergeant of Police
Anthony Gardner
Mabel
Heather Watts
Edith
Emma Tatnall
Kate
Jessica Holgate
Isabel
Olivia Hildreth
Ruth
Rebecca Smith
Men’s Chorus
Steve Bingham
Peter Butler
Duncan Campbell
Chris Charlton-Mathews
Ian Edwards
Michael Foster
Anthony Gardner
Will Gausden
Clive Goodhead
Les Hilton
Graham Robson
Alan Rome
Martin Sleeman
Doug Thomas
Simon Trow
Duncan Watson
Stephen Wilson
James Winnington
Ladies’ Chorus
Polly Backhouse
Janet Barrow
Miriam Betts
Lynn Bingham
Susan Blenkiron
Frances Brock
Patricia Campbell
Katy Cross
Chloe Crowder
Irma Gemmell
Irene Hollett
Wendy Jackson
Rachel Jamieson
Rosy Jamieson
Sally Lewis
Sue Lindley
Louisa Littler
Patricia Mortimer
Rosie Nicholson
Gill Pryor
Amanda Shackleton
Joan Sinanan
Lorna Sheppard
Maggie Soper
Bethan Terry
Gillian Tiplady
Robin Walton
Crew
Musical Director
Alasdair Jamieson
Stage Directors
Pauline Marshall
Hilary Dyson
Stage MAnager
Carolyn Roper
Set Designer
John Soper
Lighting Designer
Zanna Woodgate
Set construction team
Richard White (Head of Construction_
Keith Nicholson
Duncan Watson
Painting Team
John Soper
Steve Bingham
Peter Butler
Irma Gemmell
Clive Marshall
Paul Richardson
Joan Sinanan
Costume
Maggie Soper
Robin Walton
Other members of York Opera
Properties and Furniture
Patricia Easton
Rosamund Jackson
Publicity Team
Rosamund Jackson (Head of Publicity)
Hilary Dyson
Michael Foster
Wendy Jackson
Louisa Littler
Gill Pryor
Emma Tatnal
Publicity Designer
John Soper
Photographers
Nigel Lindley
Hilary Dyson
Makeup
Pat Mortimer
Bethan Terry
Programme
Clive Goodhead
Duncan Campbell
Gill Pryor
Repetiteurs
Frances Brock
Les Bresnen
Clive Goodhead
Steve Griffiths
Margaret Griffiths
Alasdair Jamieson
Ken Briggs
Assistant Chorus Master
Duncan Watson
Principal’s Coach
Jacqueline Edwards
Backstage Crew
Richard White
Keith Nicholson
Paul Richardson
Richard Shouksmith
Front of House
Kathleen Shouksmith
Business Manager
Duncan Campbell
Orchestra
Violin
Eva Fox-Gàl (Leader)
Claire Jowett
Clare Howard
Heather Marvin
Marcus Bousfield
Kath Thurlow
Lisa Brown
Flute
Della Blood
Felicity Jones
Oboe
Jane Wright
Clarinet
Kate White
Julie Purcell
Bassoon
Isabel Gamov
Viola
Clare Pearson
Diane Martin
Cello
Alastair Knowles
Naomi Meredith
Percussion
Francesca Rochester
Double Bass
Margaret Bryan
Horn
Mark Sykes
Fred Stanford
Trumpet
Niall McEwen
James Williamson
Trombone
Anna Marshall
Derek Chivers
Press
Review: The Pirates of Penzance, York Theatre Royal
York Mix | Alice Lavelle | 5th November 2014
Review: The Pirates Of Penzance, York Opera, York Theatre Royal
York Evening Press | Steve Crowther | 6th November 2014
6 Things to know about The Pirates of Penzance, in York this week
York Mix | 3rd November 2014
York Opera presents The Pirates Of Penzance at York Theatre Royal, November 4 to 8
York Evening Press | Charles Hutchinson | 30th October 2014
The Pirates of Penzance, York Theatre Royal, November 4 to 8
York Evening Press | 16th October 2014
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