David McKechnie and the cast of The Pirates of Penzance at the Palace Theatre, London. Picture: Danny Kaan
The Pirates of Penzance at the Palace Theatre, London (available from 28 December 2020 until 3 January 2021 on www.stream.theatre)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Comedy is distinct from music and visual art in that it provokes a binary response. A joke is either funny or it isn’t: there is laughter or there is silence. Great music or paintings from centuries ago can still be as powerful as the day they were composed, but – as a re-watch of your favourite 1990s sitcom on Netflix can prove – even relatively recent comedy might not age quite as well.
Another truth about comedy is that it works best in small rooms with low ceilings and a packed audience, something we are unlikely to see again any time soon. For this performances of director Sasha Regan’s all-male The Pirates of Penzance, the spacious Palace Theatre had seated its <50% full (as required by law) audience apart in separate bubbles. Still, our almighty roars of laughter were surely audible from the busy, traffic-congested Shaftesbury Avenue outside.
Why should a light opera written during the rule of Queen Victoria still be so uproariously funny? Before we get to the glowing tributes to the fantastic cast and director (those tributes are coming, don’t worry), the iconic writing team that is Gilbert and Sullivan surely deserve some credit. Though the cutting satire of 19th century naval leadership might have lost some of its relevance, The Pirates of Penzance does hit upon some immortal tenets of comedy. A too-kind gang of ineffective pirates is funny. A person being obviously deceptive about the extent of their own beauty is funny. And a pompous Major-General undermining his purported military propriety with ostentatiously eclectic boasts at an Eminem-paced delivery will never be anything short of hilarious.
The music too, presented here on a lone piano played by superb musical director Richard Baker, is as enjoyable as ever. The big melodies are forever hummable – as the intermission and the audience’s exit to the street proved – but with the pared-down arrangements, the musical neatness and occasional harmonic curiosities present in even the smallest moments illuminate the brilliance of Sullivan’s craft.
Regan’s direction is superb, and it is clear the show has been scoured meticulously for every possible opportunity for a laugh. Her interpretation of this piece has been running on and off around the country for over a decade, so by now the comedy is well-honed and confident. Gilbert’s wonderful libretto is supplemented by many winking contemporary additions, including a brilliant scene involving the disinfecting of a broomstick horse.
As well as being fine comedians, the cast are impressively strong singers. The all-male chorus of female characters is genius in two ways. For one, it is a celebration of the much-neglected falsetto range, but it also makes any potentially outdated sexual politics silly and unthreatening, allowing the audience to better enjoy the music and the laughs. Alan Richardson plays the female romantic lead, Mable, superbly. His voice is astounding, and he powers through the score’s soaring operatic passages with style and immaculate phrasing. Leon Craig tackles the role of Ruth with earthier vocals but is a delightful comic presence throughout.
Tom Senior gifts us a charming lead performance as Frederic. He bounds around the minimalist set with a boyish energy and uses his voice to gorgeous effect in his solos. Oliver Savile is a dashing and perfectly ridiculous Pirate King, while Marc Akinfolarin’s Police Sergeant brings the house down with his barnstorming rendition of ‘When a Felon’s Not Engaged in His Employment’.
Of course, this is the show that gave the world the much-loved and much-parodied patter song, ‘I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General’. Performing this number is famously difficult, not just for the obvious technical challenge, but also for the weight of expectation from an audience who have heard many brilliant performances of it before. David McKechnie confidently and commandingly gives the best Major-General performance I have ever had the pleasure to witness, one that all future actors taking on the role should look to for inspiration.
Given how well this production works with a modern audience, it is hard to believe that The Pirates of Penzance is a show as old (to the very day) as the filament light bulb. Sasha Regan has kept everything wonderful about the original piece while breathing exuberant new life into its comedy, resulting in a production that shines bright: a beacon of joy in this most dark of winters.
Ian Bowkett
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