Pirates of Penzance
The Plot	The Cast	The Photos	The Music

The Plot

The Pirates of Penzance, notorious chiefly for their soft hearts and gullibility, are celebrating the graduation of their apprentice Frederic, who has just reached the age of twenty-one. Frederic shocks them by revealing that his apprenticeship was begun through a mistake by Ruth, his old nursemaid. His overdeveloped sense of duty has kept him faithful to his piratical vows, and he has done his best as one of the crew, but he now proposes to return to the law-abiding world and exterminate the Pirate King and his men. The King, ever the gentleman, gives him his blessing, insisting only that Frederic should be accompanied by the middle-aged and lovestruck Ruth, which Frederic is prepared to agree to, since he has never seen another woman.

This state of ignorance does not last long, since the pirates, lair is soon invaded by the lovely daughters of Major-General Stanley, out for a picnic with their father. Frederic is smitten with them all, but only Mabel answers his plea for love. They plight their troth, only to be interrupted by the return of the pirates, who seize the girls. True to their somewhat unusual ideas of piracy, they intend to find the nearest clergyman and marry the Stanley daughters immediately. Only the Major-General can save the day, and he does so by claiming to be an orphan; the tender-hearted pirates fall for this and release the girls.

So far, so good - though the police force raised by Frederic to launch an expedition against the pirates may not be the bravest of the brave. But when Frederic discovers that through an accident of birth his apprenticeship is not really complete, and the pirates in their turn find out that the Major-General has tricked them, everyone's fate hangs in the balance... can it be that there is one more secret yet to be revealed?

The Cast

Photos 1993

Photos 2003

The Music

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