The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty.
Libretto by W.S. Gilbert. Music by Arthur
Sullivan. Directed and adapted by Richard Carroll. Co-Arranger & Musical Supervisor Victoria
Falconer. Musical Director and Co-Arranger Trevor Jones. Assistant Director
& Choreographer Shannon Burns. Set Designer Nick Fry. CostumeDesigner Lily Mateljan..Lighting
Designer Jasmine Rizk. Sound Designer Daniel Herten. Cast:Jay Laga’aia,Trevor
Jones, Maxwell Simon, Brittanie Shipway, Billie Palin. Hayes Theatre Company in
association with Canberra Theatre Centre.The Playhouse. April 2-6 2025. Bookings:
canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Trevor Jones (Pirate), Maxwell Simon (Frederic), Jay Laga'aia (Pirate King) Billie Palin (Pirate), Brittanie Shipway (Ruth) in The Pirates of Penzance |
If you have a ticket to the Hayes Theatre Company production of The Pirates of Penzance or The Slave of Duty at the Canberra Playhouse then you have struck gold! If you haven’t start digging now because this is one wow of a show you won’t want to miss. It’s hard watching this brilliant ensemble of five performers and their on stage techie to believe that it is over a hundred years since entrepreneur extraordinaire D’Oyly Carte staged Gilbert and Sullivan’s riotously satirical musical about class, gender and duty for an unsuspecting Victorian audience. Gand S were to comic opera what Wilde was to theatre and their enduring popularity is proof of their relevance to a modern-day Canberra audience.
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| Mabel (Brittanie Shipway) with her sisters |
Sea shanties lure the audience into the theatre with some seated inside designer Nick Fry’s colourful seaside bar. The cast in pirate costuming complete with fake beards and moustaches reminded me of the plethora of amateur Gilbert and Sullivan operas that were churned out during the 1950s. But there is nothing amateur about this production.
It rides the high seas of professional excellence–a swashbuckling oceanic tidal wave of irreverent fun and frivolity, performed with piratical elan by an amazing ensemble of five versatile performers who throw themselves heartily into the tale of Frederic (Maxwell Simon), the young slave to duty on the cusp of adulthood who decides to leave the pirate crew and pursue a life of respectability and conformity.
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| Frederic (Maxwell Simon), Ruth (Brittanie Shipway) |
What follows is a bountiful swell of mayhem and madcap comedy as Frederic searches for love, meets the Major General (Trevor Jones), father of the sweet Mabel (Brittanie Shipway) and eventually is tricked into returning to the Pirate gang. But like all good endings with a sentimental moral Frederic’s sense of duty makes him a paragon of virtuous humanity.
In reducing the cast to five, director Richard Carroll has turned the G and S classic into a rumbustious romp of high-powered energy. And what a cast! All switch roles with breathtaking alacrity from pirates to fair maidens to London Bobbies. As the Pirate King with a soft spot for orphans Jay Laga’aia cuts an imposing and charismatic figure with a commanding presence and a fine baritone voice. He and Billie Palin also show their versatility as London bobbies with A Policeman’s Lot is not a Happy One. Brittanie Shipway doubles as the pirates’ cook Ruth and the sweet love interest Mabel. It is an extraordinary performance, maximizing Shipway’s command of jazz vocals and operatic vibrato.
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| Trevor Jones as the Major General |
Arrangements by Victoria Falconer and Trevor Jones imbue the songs with a contemporary feel while retaining the intricate melodies of Arthur Sullivan’s original composition. Shipway’s delivery of When Frederic was a little Boy sung into a standing microphone captured a hint of Weill’s Pirate Jenny. As Mabel, Shipway’s rendition of Poor Wand’ring One harkens back to the sweet innocence of the Music Hall ingénue. Musical director and arranger Trevor Jones also plays the Major General and other minor roles. His rendition of the Major General’s class patter song I am the very model of a modern Major General brought the house down with his perfect patter and updated lyrics , giving a nod to Albanese, Tom Cruise and Scientology and Alec Baldwin. In keeping with tradition the contemporary references strike a familiar chord while retaining the satirical intent of G and S. What is amazing is Jones’s perfect timing and rhythmic control as he accompanies himself on the piano while beefing out the Major General’s number.
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| The Major General's four daughters |
Director Carroll has fashioned a magical G and S package with a punch. It’s pacy, ricochet rapid ensemble theatre at its very best, performed by a cast that is having a ton of fun. It’s contagious, a foot-tapping revelry that loses none of its original cutlass-clanging swipe at Victorian propriety. It is as fresh today in this imaginative Hayes Theatre Company production as it must have been at its first production almost one hundred and fifty years ago. This is a new look show for today’s G and S aficionados and totally loyal to its origins. It is a rare occasion to see the Playhouse packed to the rafters with an audience laughing uproariously. In an uncertain and troubled world this sparkling production of The Pirates of Penzance – The Slave to Duty is proof galore that laughter is the best medicine.
