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By
Pei Ling Wong
A smoke
screen featuring a larger-than-life pirate and Gilbert & Sullivan
cherubim greets the audience upon entering the Playhouse. Little
does it betray the extremely entertaining and hilarious evening
about to unfold!
The
play, premiered in 1879, is brought to life again. The Musical Youth
Company has succeeded in engaging the audience throughout. 'Oohs'
and 'Aahs' and cheering and laughter can be heard at all the right
places.
As
the story goes, Frederic (Ashley Harvey) the apprentice pirate celebrates
his 21st birthday by announcing his intention to leave (and eventually
exterminate!) the pirates. It was only through the error of his
nurse Ruth that he was apprenticed to a pirate until his 21st birthday
and it was his duty to stay. Upon leaving, Frederic looks for love,
first in his nurse (!) before he chanced upon the beautiful daughters
of the Major-General. Mabel (Emily Berrington) turns out to be the
only one who would marry him to reform him.
The
story climaxed when Frederic is presented with an 'ingenuous paradox'
by his nurse and the Pirate King. That is, as far as birthdays are
concerned, Frederic has only celebrated his 5th as he is born in
a leap year. He is thus technically still bound to the pirates!
As Frederic rejoins the pirates, the plot to capture them has already
been laid out by the Policemen. All hell is let loose when the pirates
seek to seize the Major-General's daughters as wives and the policemen,
in turn, struggles to capture the pirates. The only thing that finally
brought peace is their mutual love for their Queen!
Frederic
looks very much his part as a coming-of-age pirate. Mabel, with
the voice of a nightingale, also shows much talent. Especially impressing
are the strong vocal and theatrical abilities of the Pirate King
(Howard Grater) and nurse Ruth (Francesca Williams). Major-General
Stanley (Emrys Matthews) enchanted the audience with his catchy
tune 'I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General'. So did the
Policemen and their tap-dancing. The strong supporting cast of 25
each of Pirates and Daughters are worth commenting as well.
The
Musical Youth Company of Oxford has done it again!
The
views expressed in these comments are those of the contributor's
and not the 成人快手.
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