An entertainment by Jeff Clarke
including a performance of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
by Gilbert and Sullivan - complete and unabridged (with cuts).

 

Music: Sir Arthur Sullivan
Libretto: WS Gilbert
Additional material by Jeff Clarke and Richard Gauntlett

First performance of The Pirates of Penzance: Royal Bijou Theatre, Paignton. 30 December 1879

First performance of the OdL production: The Theatre Chipping Norton,
4 April 1995

The cast of the first performance was:

 

Vicar/Major General	Richard Gauntlett
Mr Prendergast/Samuel/Kate/Sergeant	James Biddlecombe
Mr Prickett/Pirate King/Policeman	Nigel Leach
Tracy/Mabel	Fiona O'Neill
Young Man/Frederic/Policeman	Matthew Gould
Mrs Goodbody/Ruth/Edith/Policeman	Louise Crane
Director	Jeff Clarke
Designer and Costumes	Graham Watson
Choreographer	Jenny Arnold

An excerpt from Ian Bradley’s book “Oh Joy, Oh Rapture” Oxford University Press 2005:

 

The Parson’s Pirates remains one of the key items in the Opera della Luna repertoire. It is set in the parish hall of St Michael’s Under Ware, where the vicar, the Reverend Arthur Bender, is putting on The Pirates of Penzance to raise money for church funds.

His cast consists of the two church-wardens, Mr Prickett and Mr Prendergast; Tracy, a punkish girl who does amazing things with chewing gum; and un-named local youth who is recruited to play Frederic; and Mrs Goodbody, a lady who is into alternative spirituality and dabbles in Tarot cards and tantric therapies.

I watched The Parson’s Pirates, with the ubiquitous and ever-fresh Richard Suart in the title role, and The Mikado, during the 2003 Buxton G&S Festival with the Opera House full of G&S aficionados, traditionalists, and D’Oyly Carte devotees. We were all captivated by the freshness of the approach and the vibrancy of the performances.