THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★

“A new and mostly fresh-faced cast give their all to this hugely enjoyable show”

At the highpoint of the Victorian era, WS Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan collaborated on 14 hugely successful comic operas, thanks to their being brought together by Richard D’Oyly Carte at the Savoy Theatre. Sullivan wrote the music and Gilbert the words. The duo’s gift for catchy tunes and clever and witty lyrics won them huge success.

HMS Pinafore, The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance have long been out of copyright and remain firm favourites for amateur companies around the world. So far, so familiar. But what happens when you freshen up these old warhorses and stage them with an all-male cast?

Since 2009 London-based director Sasha Regan has been doing just that, first at the Union Theatre, which she founded, and subsequently on tour around the country and to Australia. When asked why an all-male cast, she once said she loves their innocence. “Like a bunch of fresh-faced schoolboys, they have an energy that is infectious”. That fizzing energy rocked Wilton’s Music Hall last night.

A new and mostly fresh-faced cast give their all to this hugely enjoyable show, injecting much delightful scampering campery into the already irreverent old story. David McKechnie (the very model of a modern Major-General) is the only cast member to have appeared in Sasha Regan’s show before and his version of the most famous patter song (think the original rap) is a tour de force.

Thanks to the direction and some ingenious and ultra-precise and always enchanting choreography by Lizzi Gee, the cast occupy the entire theatre most enjoyably. From the opening scene where the troupe of white clad performers bowl energetically on to the stage through the auditorium, their movement is a delight.

Amongst the best known numbers in the show are ‘When a felon’s not engaged in his employment’ (a Policeman’s lot is not a happy one) – sung with great gusto by a knee-trembling chorus of Policemen, and ‘Hail poetry’ a beautiful rendition of this a cappella anthem.

These choruses are well-suited to an all-male cast. The greatest challenges are in the female roles, where Sullivan wrote some beautiful bel canto tunes. As Mabel, Luke Garner-Greene makes an impressive stage debut, gamely tackling the considerable falsetto challenge. Robert Wilkes as Ruth has some terrific comic moments. Tom Newland is the living embodiment of the swaggering pirate king and Cameron McAllister has a fine voice and touching innocence in his performance as Frederic.

Right down to its cheesy ending when all’s right in this shining take on the Victorian world, Sasha Regan’s The Pirates of Penzance is a delightful don’t miss.

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

★★★★

UK Tour

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE at Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★

“A new and mostly fresh-faced cast give their all to this hugely enjoyable show”