LAST Friday the ferry to Rothesay was boarded by pirates. Fortunately, the coffee shop remained un-pillaged and no CalMac employees were forced to walk the plank, as these pirates were the genial and tender hearted Illyria Theatre Company, paying an eagerly anticipated return to the Isle of Bute with their production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance’.
Again, we have to thank the Bute Arts Society for bringing top class entertainment to the island.
Illyria have several groups touring the United Kingdom with different productions. Usually a production of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta requires a cast of around two dozen, each Illyria group comprises six performers to fulfil all of the roles and to incorporate all the technical duties for the production.
They arrive, set up the stage, wrangle the scenery, attend to costumes, make-up and props, deliver an exhilarating performance, then pack up and move on, more like theatrical gypsies than pirates.
The pirates’ opening number “Pour, oh pour, the pirate sherry” was delivered with gusto, setting the pace for the evening’s performance. Inevitably for a W. S. Gilbert plot, there are bizarre twists and turns and side stories as our hero Frederic navigates a life of piracy whilst renouncing piracy at every opportunity to try and lead a blameless life and find love. It was most unfortunate that he became a pirate when young, due to a mishearing of ‘pirate’ for ‘pilot’ as explained by Ruth, his former nurserymaid with her pitiful rendition of “When Fred’ric was a little lad”. His fortunes are shaped and thwarted by his sense of duty, the subtitle of this work being “The Slave of Duty”, as the plot exposes the ridiculousness of the rigid moral codes of the era. The pirates however are not so willing to relinquish their calling as the dashing Pirate King sings “Oh, better far to live and die”, with the ever pertinent line ‘Away to the cheating world go you, where pirates all are well to do!’.
The Pirates of Penzance is full of songs that are well known even by those not familiar with the work, it’s almost a Gilbert and Sullivan jukebox musical. The performers’ incredibly fast costume changes see them leave the small stage on one side as pirates to reappear in a couple of seconds at the other side of the stage as the daughters of the Major General. Frederic is trying to hide not to alarm the ladies but has to warn them of his presence to preserve their modesty. He does so with a beautiful tenor voice, surely enough to woo a maiden but his ‘chat up lines’ leave something to be desired, when asking if someone has ‘homely looks and bad complexion’ he is met with deserved disdain, especially by the very comical bearded sister. Frederic’s plea “Oh, is there not one maiden breast?” looks to fail until Mabel’s coloratura soprano rises to the challenge of “Poor wand’ring one”, surely the most impressive demonstration of vocal range and control that also sends up the grand opera of the time.
These Major General’s daughters were rather less demure than they are usually portrayed but were much funnier for their moral ambiguity. They kindly agree to give Mabel and Frederic some privacy while singing “How beautifully blue the sky” at such a fast pace that the audience almost had to draw breath on their behalf.
Of course, despite Frederic’s warning of the nearby pirates, the ladies leave it too late to escape their clutches and singing “Stay, we must not lose our senses” is met with the pirates reply of “Here’s a first-rate opportunity to get married with impunity”. The sisters’ unconvincing mock horror at the prospect of piratical husbands again mocks Victorian social etiquette.
The end of the first act sees the entrance of the Major General “Yes, yes he is a Major General!” and we are treated to the much parodied song “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” delivered at break neck speed, pausing only when searching for rhyming endings to his lines.
Act two opens with Frederic, currently believing he is no longer a pirate, engaging the services of the police to apprehend the pirates. Mabel and her sisters ‘encourage’ the police to do their duty, assuring them that they will be heroes as they “go to glory and the grave!”. They are not impressed and led by their Sergeant,
sing the familiar song “When a felon’s not engaged in his employment”, with the sorrowful chorus of “A policeman’s lot is not a happy one” complete with truncheons aloft and some almost balletic knee bend pliés, suggesting that villains aren’t all bad and probably don’t need arresting.
The pirates return to exact a terrible revenge on the Major General who had lied to them about being an orphan and the Pirate King leads them in a stomping performance of “With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal” that definitely tested their stage building skills. They tussle with the police until the Sergeant tells them to yield in Queen Victoria’s name which they do. Ruth reveals that the pirates are all noblemen who have gone wrong and so they are let off. Everything is resolved and everyone lives happily ever after.
The performance was a delight from start to finish. Their comedic talents were always on show and were enhanced by a witty use of props. As if all the original characters weren’t enough for the six performers to contend with, they added cameo appearances by Death with a sickle chasing the police and pirates; a (bearded?) Queen Victoria for the pirates to kneel to and when the Pirate King was furious about the Major General singing “Yes tonight the traitor dies!” two green cloaked and hooded figures carrying lanterns briefly appear, referencing the popular Traitors television program.
The sustained energy that they apply to the singing and dancing is enviable and the delight that they take in their performance is infectious. Again Illyria theatre stole our hearts.
