THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. To 10 February.
Richmond.
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
by W S Gilbert music by Arthur Sullivan adapted by Chris Monks.
Orange Tree Theatre To 10 February 2007.
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 4pm & 27-29 Dec, 4, 11, 18, 25 Jan 2.30pm.
Audio-described 23 Jan, 27 Jan 4pm.
Post-show discussion 2 Feb + Thu mats.
Runs 2hr 5min One interval.
TICKETS: 020 8940 3633.
www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 22 December.
This lot are generally a happy one.
Following hot (well, lukewarm – it’s been 2 years) on his Mikado at the Orange Tree comes a revival of Chris Monks’ adaptation of this earlier Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Monks takes the story, adapts setting and script (not much here), using the original music re-scored (just 2 players on this occasion) and casts singing actors. If a music critic claimed they’d be better fitted to the chorus than lead roles in the opera-house, the gain in characterisation is immense.
Monks’ Mikado triumphs through its central perception that the Japanese story covers a satire on English ways, perfectly encapsulated by setting it amid the ritual of a cricket match. Pirates, more opportunistic, has no such revelation.
Somehow American Mafiosi have settled in Cornwall (or maybe, given Monks’ altered revelation of their identity, they’re English Scorsese wannabes). This allows an inventively surprise opening, and there’s ingenuity throughout.
Young Frederic, brought up as a pirate apprentice (suggesting the gang’s been around a good decade) believes he can now leave for an honest life, but that’s before Gilbert introduces his paradoxical plot-twist. Meanwhile 30-something Ruth fears him seeing young women (Frederic’s sheltered cove of an upbringing means he can’t spell his new-beloved’s name when he writes it in the sand).
Gilbert makes these pirates a soft-hearted lot, full of tender empathy for orphans. Alan McMahon’s Major-General Stanley (father to a bevy of female chorus) and Craig Purnell’s Pirate King handle Gilbert’s rather awkward cross-purpose “orphan” dialogue with finely-gradated pronunciation.
Turning the police into private security guards seems neat but confounds references to the constabulary and, in their green uniforms, to police blue. Making Mabel an intense, bespectacled girl fits Frederic’s call for even a plain girl to pity him, and her poetic labours are neatly used. Philippa Stanton sings finely though rather fixedly. For sustained, quiet notes and tonal variation, Stephen Carlile’s Frederic is outstanding. And, led by Purnell, the Pirates are a fine crew.
So, plenty of fun along the way, if no overall scheme. What’s the betting for 2 years’ hence on the Orange Tree offering The Bat, Monks’ reworking of Die Fledermaus?
Pirate King: Craig Purnell.
Samuel, Pirate 2nd-in-Command: Nick Haverson.
Mr Turquoise, a Pirate/Major-General Stanley: Alan McMahon.
Mr Lime, a Pirate/Sandy, a Junior Security Guard: Nick Earnshaw.
The Preacher, a Pirate/Sergeant, a Senior Security Guard: Ben Crowe.
Frederic, a Pirate Apprentice: Stephen Carlile.
Ruth, a Pirate Maid-of-all-Work: Julie Jupp.
Mabel: Philippa Stanton.
Edith: Louisa McCarthy.
Kate: Catherine Le Brun.
Isabel: Elen Rhys.
Musician: Rachel Steadman.
Director: Chris Monks.
Designer: Tim Meacock.
Lighting: John Harris.
Musical Director: Simon Pickering.
Assistant director: Helen Leblique.
Assistant designer: Robyn Wilson.
2006-12-24 12:49:42