The last time an actual G&S show was produced by the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Bermuda was in 1996. Now 18 years later, Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Bermuda is going back to its namesake’s vaults and reinventingThe Pirates of Penzance.
In the same way that Shakespearean texts exist to be interpreted in many ways, the same could be said of the Gilbert & Sullivan scores. This year’s Bermuda G&S Production Team plans to stage the show as an unabashed musical - Think a classic musical comedy romp in the sand dunes - with echoes of Pirates of the Caribbean!
SHOW SYNOPSIS:
This wonderfully witty and classic musical play concerns the story of Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year and accompanied by his nursemaid Ruth, is released from his accidental apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates led by a Pirate King. Once ashore he meets Mabel, one of the many daughters/Wards in Chancery of Major-General Stanley, and the two young people fall instantly in love. He then swears to pursue the pirates and bring them to justice for their crimes, driven by his over-arching sense of duty. In order to do so he enlists the somewhat wary local constabulary to assist. However, before he can set out on his “dread adventure” Frederic finds out that he was born on 29th of February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year and is only 5 years old by birthday reckoning. His apprenticeship indentures state that he remains apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday, and so he must serve for another 63 years as a pirate and return to a “life of plunder.” Bound by his own sense of duty, Frederic agrees to return to the Pirates with his only solace being that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully. After Frederic’s departure Mabel calls forth the constables who, with some cajoling, set off stealthily to destroy the pirates and free Frederic – but when they meet up with the pirate band the pirates are more than ready for the attack and a comic melee ensues. Do the pirates win the day? Does the long arm of the law defeat the Pirate King and free Frederic? You will have to buy a ticket and see!
OUR ARTISTIC/PRODUCTION TEAM:
Producer – Deborah Joell-Smith
Artistic Director – Andrew Lynford
Musical Director – Philip Shute
Stage Manager – Kevin Connor
Set Designer – Cleo Pettitt
Lighting Designer - Andy Vere
Sound Designer – Richard de Whittaker
Costume Director – Vaughn Sullivan
Director of Publicity – Alexander Damon Rosati