Pirates of Penzance

Pirate show is Orlando Bloom-in’ Marvellous!

                   For their latest show Berwick High School Youth Theatre served up a slice of pure unadulterated fun. Seriously this show couldn’t have been more fun if it came in the form of a cake. The plot is almost apocalyptically daft (almost on a par with the last Transformers film) and almost a total irrelevance because as always with any Gilbert & Sullivan piece, the last thing you should ever do is THINK!  Parts of it don’t even pretend to make sense but that only adds to the irreverent charm of what must be the campest show ever written by man, woman or fish.

                Firstly it must be said that the production design was gorgeous and had the look of something that had just fallen from the pages of a Ladybird picture book.

                However, barely have we had time to notice this before you are dragged by the nostrils into the world of backwards logic and tomfoolery by a gang of pirates (The ooh-arrin’ kind not the Somalian kind that Ross Kemp hangs out with) led by Alex Macdonald Smith (to stop him gobbling up my word count he will now be referred to as “Mac-daddy”) as The Pirate King. His swaggering, guy-liner wearing and “I’m doing G&S, what you gonna do about?” attitude were pricelessly entertaining and lent the show a distinctly modern feel and welcome sense of irony. A tremendous feat of character acting coupled with a handy knack of delivering killer one-word put-downs that had the audience itching for his return. The ever reliable Lewis Cameron presented his latest smooth-as-a-Pyrex-jug performance as the really rather punchable Frederic (the lady sitting next to me had some very stern things to say about his attitude to fairer sex). His regular on-stage sparring partner Laura Doolan also impressed as Ruth with her spiky asides and well balanced comedic timing and wacky way of saying the word “pilot” (“Pie-lot”).

                As a matter of fact, all of the lead actors were brilliant. Phoebe Inglis Holmes, who spent the majority of the show clarting around in her nighty like Peaches Geldof, possessed the sweetest trilling soprano I have heard in many a while in the role of Mabel (“The most beautiful sound I ever heard... MABEL!”) And who can forget the one-man riot Paul Rooney as Major General. A role he was seemingly born to play. He also gets extra kudos for getting his tongue around his incredibly wordy signature tune. His exchanges with “Mac-daddy ” had me laughing so hard that my drink came shooting out my nose (really, I’m such a catch).

                Lending strong comic support came Stewart Taylor as Sergeant, a policeman who seemed to be so constantly out of his depth I started to wonder if he was actually a kiss-a-gram. Liam Mutch was on top form as wide-eyed Samuel as was Rachael Cross as Edith. I did however think it was a great missed opportunity that Sarah Rooney (as Kate “singing”) and Bethany Dinardo (as Kate “speaking”) weren’t allowed to perform the role as conjoined twins but you can’t have everything and, as it was, both girls were very good indeed.

                The chorus lent a great sense of atmosphere – albeit sometimes quietly – to the scenes with particular credit going to the policemen with their bonkers dance routines which managed to combine Jacko’s “Smooth Criminal” with March of the Penguins. Not immediately obvious bed-fellows but very amusing all the same. The Victorian era Mamma Mia beach scene with the gaggle of giggling girlies was also a hoot as we discover Frederic’s caddish ways.

                As always with non-professional shows, it would seem that unintentional humour is available on tap: “Mac-Daddy” showing he can even forget lines with panache, the rather lovely designed programme that showed what the cast and director would look like after a week in Lanzarote and the policeman whom the costume fitters were hoping would “grow into his uniform!” Not to mention the dainty young ladies beside me who sounded like they were eating whole turnips from the world’s crackliest bag of sweets (?)

                Paula Griffiths and Carole Robb set themselves a big challenge and, like two spry girls playing leap-frog with a Notre-Dame bell-ringer, the cleared the hump with plenty room to spare. Another year, another hit. AVAST hit! (Sorry.)

RJW

 

Cast: Phoebe Inglis Holmes, Lewis Cameron, Alex Macdonald Smith, Paul Rooney, Laura Doolan, Rachael Cross; Sarah Rooney, Bethany Dinardo, Stewart Taylor, Kate Stewart Liam Mutch, Charlotte Hattle, Ashley Boyd, Hannah Moses, Lisa Johnson, Rhiannon Fleming, Abbie Cockburn, Rob Hardie, Tanith Allen, Amy Redmond, Beth Park, Natalie Wood, Becky Black, Lucia O’mara, Bobbie Griffiths, Leah Blyth, Abby Youngman, Frazer Smiles, Damien Davison, Rachel Moffat, Melissa Stemen.

Crew: Paula Griffiths – Director, Carole Robb – Musical Director, Dan Cox – Assistant director & programme design, Craig Scott – set design, Brian Maynard Steve Sutherland – stage crew.

Band: Dan Bruce, Lorna Robertson, Caitlin Mutch, Carole Robb, Dot Mutch, Nathan Thompson, Anna Lannon.

 

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