Pirates of Penzance - last days at Chichester

Starring Paul Nicholas as the marvellous Sergeant of Police, the much-loved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, The Pirates of Penzance, runs for just two more days at Chichester Festival Theatre. Book in now for a rollicking treat tonight or on Saturday.

Central to a slim premise is the young hero who was stolen by his nursemaid and given to the pirates to bring up until the age of majority. Now he is 21, he can choose for himself, and is disinclined to choose his nurse on the way out; even though she assures him she is beautiful. Or can he choose for himself? The pirate king and ‘Nurse’ Ruth have other ideas.

Mabel (Katy Batho) and Frederic (Lincoln Stone) in Pirates of Penzance

Perhaps the most popular of all the ‘Savoy Operas’, the storyline is dead simple but the tunes and the words remain as fresh and contemporary as they did to the Victorians. Orphaned pirates, flat-footed policemen and a bevy of blushing beauties (the daughters of Major General Stanley) are the ingredients for this Gilbert & Sullivan feast.

Elegantly recreating the original period settings and costumes, the Carl Rosa Opera gives its best to Sullivan’s sparkling score and Gilbert’s topsy-turvy plot. At its best, the acting is sublimely funny and the orchestra and singers give creditable performances.

The first act takes place on a rocky seashore along the coast of Cornwall. As the pirate apprentice, Frederic insists on returning to his roots and finds himself beached by the pirates for doing so. As he lands, a covey of pretty young maidens appear. And he is immediately, of course, hooked by youth and numerous hormones leaping into operation.

Based on the most slender of premises, that the age of consent is void when you’re born on February 29, the show rollicks to a close with the pirates and the police mainly getting their gals, most of them from the loins of Major General Stanley.

Stage set for Pirates of Penzance

It wasn’t until I saw a young Greek family picnicking on the train to London the next day that I realised some people choose to have lots of children and actually enjoy them. Three of these kids adopted me as a surrogate aunt on the trip back, which made it a lot more interesting than most commutes and also gave some insights into the nature of large families. But I diverse.

Barry Clark does a terrific job of portraying the somewhat pompous but rather shrewd old major who needs to marry off his daughters and manages it en masse with crafty adroitness. More than can be said for the apprentice pirate, who seems a tad unconvincing in both his roles… except when it comes to attracting the ladies.

Major General Stanley (Barry Clark)

Some of the most droll scenes onstage include the Major General skipping through the waves, convincingly suggested by dint of a length of appropriately painted cloth waved up and down by the pirates. And as the Sergeant of Police, Paul Nicholas is simply wonderful, whilst Steven Page does a convincing, realistic pirate king: he ‘looks the goods’, as they say in the parlance, and follows through in proper villain style.

As intimated before, Lincoln Stone is attractive as the pirate apprentice but somewhat superficial in a play that basks in superficiality. Perhaps that’s all the role allows for but a little more passion onstage would be nice. As his bride-to-be, Mabel, Katy Batho has a marvellous voice – something that the Chichester Festival Theatre always seems to get right – but, like Stone, could be more convincing in her role.

Others in the cast include Michael Kerry as the Pirate King’s Lieutenant, Nichola Jolley, Lesley Cox, Victoria Ward and Beverly Klein as a pirate maid of all work. The Cosa Rosa Opera Orchestra is conducted by Martin Handley with Nancy Roberts as lead violin. I wondered whether the Alex Jagger on trumpet is related to the famous musical family.

The audience for this touring production was dressed somewhat more casually than usual and far more inclined to express its enthusiasm overtly. Judging from their reactions, they found this is a jolly good production of Pirates of Penzance.

Please book here.