CityLife

Pirates of Penzance

THE final production of the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival at Buxton Opera House – which has sold this year, we are told, 23,500 tickets in total – was The Pirates Of Penzance, under Alan Spencer’s direction.

He’s an expert at using the best ideas from whatever source they come, and it was a tightly paced and highly entertaining romp, with John Owen Edwards urging things along in the pit with the same energy as displayed by the members of the cast.

And what a cast it was. Richard Suart gave his wonderfully dotty Major-General, James Cleverton his swashbuckling Pirate King, Bruce Graham his lugubrious Sergeant of Police, and Jill Pert her hugely likeable Ruth.

With performers such as these, I would imagine it needs only a hint or a nudge to add a nuance or touch of humour to performances whose masterly qualities have been honed over several years.

Balance of parody and sincerity

But the chief interest for me lay in the principals who were newcomers to the Buxton G&S scene – Victoria Joyce as Mabel and James Elliot as Frederic. They are both top-quality singers, and she trod these boards only a month or so ago when she took the title role in the Buxton Opera Festival’s acclaimed Véronique.

They did great work, both individually and together, but I guess their contribution in acting terms would have been better yet with more time for preparation.

It’s a tricky thing to get the right balance of parody and sincerity which somehow is the key to the G&S magic. We know we’re laughing at comic creations, but we love to suspend disbelief just a little, too.

The show could not fail to be an entertainment, however, and the enthusiasm and sonorous singing of the chorus members and those in the other roles again brought satisfaction to all.

Buxton Gilbert And Sullivan Festival. August 2009.

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