THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE OR THE SLAVE TO DUTY

 

The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty.  

Libretto by W.S. Gilbert. Music by Arthur
Sullivan.
Directed and adapted by Richard Carroll. Co-Arranger & Musical Supervisor Victoria
Falconer. Musical Director and Co-Arranger Trevor Jones. Assistant Director
& Choreographer Shannon Burns. Set Designer Nick Fry.  CostumeDesigner Lily Mateljan..Lighting
Designer Jasmine Rizk. Sound Designer Daniel Herten. Cast:Jay Laga’aia,Trevor
Jones, Maxwell Simon, Brittanie Shipway, Billie Palin. Hayes Theatre Company in
association with Canberra Theatre Centre.The Playhouse.  April 2-6 2025. Bookings:
canberratheatrecentre.com.au

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

 

If you have a ticket to the Hayes
Theatre Company production of The Pirates
of Penzance or The Slave of Duty
at the Canberra Playhouse then you have
struck gold! If you haven’t start digging now because this is one wow of a show
you won’t want to miss. It’s hard watching this brilliant ensemble of five
performers and their   on stage techie to believe that it is over a
hundred years since entrepreneur
extraordinaire D’Oyley Carte staged Gilbert and Sullivan’s riotously satirical
musical about class, gender and duty for an unsuspecting Victorian audience.
Gand S were to comic opera what Wilde was to theatre and their enduring
popularity is proof of their relevance to a modern day Canberra audience.

Sea shanties lure the audience
into the theatre with some seated inside designer Nick Fry’s  colourful seaside bar. The cast in pirate
costuming complete with fake beards and moustaches reminded me of the plethora
of amateur Gilbert and Sullivan operas that were churned out during the 1950s.
But there is nothing amateur about this production. It rides the high seas of professional
excellence – a swashbuckling oceanic
tidal wave of irreverent fun and frivolity, performed with piratical elan by an
amazing ensemble of five versatile performers who throw themselves heartily
into the tale of Frederic (Maxwell Simon), the young slave to duty on the cusp
of adulthood who decides to leave the pirate crew and pursue a life of
respectability and conformity.

What follows is a bountiful swell
of mayhem and madcap comedy as Frederic searches for love, meets the Major
General (Trevor Jones), father of the sweet Mabel (Brittanie Shipway) and
eventually is tricked into returning to the Pirate gang. But like all good
endings with a sentimental moral Frederic’s sense of duty makes him a paragon
of virtuous humanity.

In reducing the cast to five,
director Richard Carroll has turned the G and S classic into a rumbustious romp
of high-powered energy. And what a cast! All switch roles with breathtaking
alacrity from pirates to fair maidens to London Bobbies. As the Pirate King
with a soft spot for orphans Jay Laga’aia cuts an imposing and charismatic
figure with a commanding presence and a fine baritone voice. He and Billie
Palin also show their versatility as London bobbies with A Policeman’s Lot is not a Happy One. Brittanie Shipway doubles as the pirates’ cook Ruth and the
sweet love interest Mabel. It is an extraordinary performance, maximizing
Shipway’s command of jazz vocals and operatic vibrato. Arrangements by Victoria
Falconer and Trevor Jones imbue the songs with a contemporary feel while
retaining the intricate melodies of Arthur Sullivan’s original composition.
Shipway’s delivery of When Frederic was a
little Boy
sung into a standing microphone captured a hint of Weill’s Pirate Jenny. As Mabel, Shipway’s
rendition of Poor Wand’ring One harkens
back  to the sweet innocence of the Music
Hall ingénue. Musical director and arranger Trevor Jones also plays the Major General
and other minor roles. His rendition of the Major General’s class patter song I am the very model of a modern Major General  brought the house down with his perfect
patter and updated lyrics , giving a nod to Albanese, Tom Cruise and
Scientology and Alec Baldwin. In keeping with tradition the contemporary references
strike a familiar chord while retaining
the satirical intent of G and S. What is amazing is Jones’s perfect timing and
rhythmic control as he accompanies himself on the piano while beefing out the
Major General’s number.

Director Carroll has fashioned a
magical G and S package with a punch. It’s pacy, ricochet rapid ensemble
theatre at its very best, performed by a cast that is having a ton of fun. It’s
contagious, a foot-tapping revelry that loses none of its original cutlass-clanging swipe at Victorian propriety. It is as fresh today in this imaginative Hayes
Theatre Company production as it must
have been at its first production almost one hundred and fifty years ago. This
is a new look show for today’s G and S aficionados and totally loyal to its
origins. It is a rare occasion to see the Playhouse packed to the rafters with
an audience laughing uproariously. In an uncertain and troubled world this sparkling
production of The Pirates of Penzance –
The Slave to Duty
is proof galore that laughter is the best medicine.

 

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