The Pirates of Penzance

Batten down the hatches. Strike the colours. The pirates are back. The ENO’s smash-hit production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s swashbuckling farce returns shortly – and is set to get audiences toe-tapping along all over again. With its splendidly silly storyline, wild wordplay and well-loved songs, this Mike Leigh-created production is irresistibly feel-good. An apprentice pirate woos the Major General’s daughter, while his bungling buccaneer-shipmates try to outwit an equally inept party of policemen. Its vibrant staging brings out the sunshine in the story. The Pirates of Penzance is one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most popular operas and contains some of their most memorable melodies. These include ‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General’, ‘A Policeman’s Lot is Not a Happy One’ and ‘With Cat-like Tread’. This revival is directed by Sarah Tipple and conducted by Natalie Murray Beale. G&S favourites and ENO regulars Richard Suart and John Savournin are the Major General and the Pirate King respectively. Meanwhile, ENO Harewood Artist Isabelle Peters sings the role of Mabel, and former Harewood artist William Morgan is Frederic. Co-production with Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and the Saarländische Staatstheater Saarbrücken.