Therefore, I was glad to see "Pirates..." playing in a sumptuous and well-appointed theatre- the Whitehorse Centre- to a packed house. Even moreso to see that the natural essence of the show had not been mucked-about with this time. "Pirates..." was directed by Paul Watson with, I feel, an understanding of the fact that it is a fantasy show and not to be taken too seriously. And little elements had been added, but the basic soul of the show was intact. This middle-ground approach will, I think, satisfy diehard G and S buffs and also please those who see "Pirates..." as just another show.

The story is pure fantasy. A starry-eyed young man, Frederic, leaves his position on a pirate ship- where he was put by mistake as a child- to go out into the world. There he meets a beautiful maiden, Mabel, who is the woman who will bring him to salvation. Then Mabel's virginal and innocent sisters are seized by a rough band of pirates on a deserted beach. Their father's attempts to keep the pirates away from his daughters, and Frederic's love for Mabel, form the core of the story. It is very one-dimensional; we have the virile pirates, the virginal girls and the good boy Frederic. We also have the stupid police force, the girls' eccentric father Major-General Stanley, and Frederic's ageing, lovesick nurse Ruth. "Pirates..." has had great appeal over the generations.

The sets, designed by Paul Watson, and the lighting, courtesy of Jason Bovaird, were ambitious. The lighting was quite stunning- it was mood-enhancing rather than naturalistic. In the second act there was the lighting effect of a moon, complete with craters. The show opened as a scrim lifted and we saw several layers of netting swaying, as if in the breeze, suspended from the flies. Added to that, we saw a pirate in silhouette turning a somersault. It started with a bang, and kept up these stunning visuals all the way through. The main modern-day element of this show, I think, was that it used today's special effects to present the story as a really beautiful vision. Also, the director took the approach of framing it, almost in an unrealistic way, which gave the feel of telling a story from the past, described in the program as a "behind-the-scenes-documentary-approach." There was some added dialogue, mainly borrowed from the Broadway and Essgee productions. But thankfully they did not hack the script apart like some people do, to make it seem like the story takes place in the modern day. It doesn't. It is a story from Victorian times and that is an important part of its soul. Because this team respected that, the unique qualities of "Pirates..." were able to shine through in a very attractively packaged production, presented with modern conveniences!

There were some great performances. "Pirates..." has its crazy comic characters, such as the Pirate King and the Sergeant of Police, who are not supposed to be anything more than figures of fun requiring comic, pantomime acting. However there are other characters who carry the drama of the story, who require a little bit more acting. Many people have complained that these characters are too shallow to get your teeth into. But in this production, some of the actors playing them seemed to find considerable depth.

Brad Ericson played the role of Frederic as if he was taking it very seriously. Although "Pirates" is an unlikely story, Frederic is a man who faces a moral dilemma. He played Frederic with subtle emotion and a commanding gravity. This added a very moving edge to his role. Rachel Buckley played Frederic's nurse, Ruth, with the same warm and human approach. As did Colin Simpson, who played a rather lost and somewhat childlike Major-General Stanley. These actors played their characters as fully-rounded people, but still managed to retain the comic touch.

Kevin Kelley was brilliant as the Pirate King. He played the role as pure pantomime, which is, of course, the way to do it. Nick Sharman performed as the Sergeant of Police with playfulness, charisma and a sense of joy. Sharman's resonant baritone voice just keeps getting better. Vanessa Petrie as Mabel came across as the quiet achiever of the sisters. She has an agile soprano voice and looked the part. Petrie gave a lightweight performance, which is a fair interpretation of the role, as Mabel is such an idealistic character she is almost other-worldly, but I think she could have shown some deep feeling. "Pirates..." may be a comic opera, but Mabel does have some very moving music written for her. It is more effective if she conveys a sense of pathos at crucial turning points in the love story.

As for the ensemble, it was lovely to see Major-General Stanley's daughters as they were originally intended to be- as idealistic fantasies of Victorian girlhood. In recent years we have had them in bathing suits in at least one production, with their roles completely re-harmonized in at least one other, as nurses in another; all sorts of distortions. But this production brings us back to the original balance- a lusty band of pirates falling in upon a parasol-wielding, demurely-frocked vision of virgin innocence. The girls did some very agreeable dancing, choreographed by Kylie Digby.

The pirates were interesting. Watson had apparently given the ensemble the freedom to develop their own characters and this was evident in the individual ways they presented themselves. The pirate ensemble was bursting with liveliness. The other half of the male ensemble, the policemen, who do not come out until the second act, moved well in slapstick timing. There was a girl, Alison Thorn, among the police. Thorn blended in well with the male police, but at the same time, her more diminutive stature was used to good effect!

The band, conducted by Graeme Burnham, sounded great, and the double choruses worked beautifully. The presentation of the ballad "Ah, Leave me not to Pine and Desolate" however, was a bit unusual. It was rushed. This is a sad, slow ballad conveying heart-stopping grief. When not languished over, it does tend to lose a little of its effect. There were some other things that worried me about this show. For some reason the girls did not pair off with the pirates in the end, with the exception of Mabel and Frederic. This contradicts the dialogue, and did not allow for the satisfactory climax that usually comes at the end. Also there was a real carry-on with the Pirate King's song, "Oh Better Far to Live and Die"- it kept stopping again and starting again, and stopping again, and starting again, and for some reason this was apparently supposed to be funny. Can't we just sit back and enjoy watching the show unfold, rather than having to sit, with arms crossed, until this "joke" is over?

But at any rate, this was a really pleasing production. It is great to see "Pirates" resonant and alive with very much its original soul, rather than altered so much it loses its special qualities. This was a sumptuous and streamlined production full of unexpected treasures, which showed that "Pirates" does not need any radical altering to keep a new generation happy. And the fact that there was a huge and enthusiastic audience, opting to take in "Pirates of Penzance" rather than watch the election count, shows that there's a lot of life in this old favourite yet!

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