The Cast

Pirates - The Story

It is 1873, and that notorious band of sea rovers, the Pirates of Penzance, are drinking the health of Frederic who, on reaching the age of twenty-one, has completed his apprenticeship and is now expected to become a full-blown member of the pirate gang.

Frederic, however, has other ideas! It turns out that Ruth, his nursery maid, mistook the word 'pirate' for 'pilot' many years ago, and took Frederic to join the completely wrong profession! Having done his duty by completing his apprenticeship, Frederic now intends to rejoin law-abiding society and lead a blameless life. Furthermore, to atone for his disreputable past, his first act would be to exterminate the pirate scourge, even though he loves each of the pirates individually.

The dashing Pirate King surprisingly has every sympathy with Frederic's intentions, but declines to rejoin polite society. Frederic's last act as a dutiful pirate is to explain to the group why they are so unsuccessful as pirates - it turns out that their sympathy for any fellow orphans has got about, and all potential victims now claim to be orphans and thus immune to the pirate's advances.

As Frederic leaves, Ruth begs to be taken with him, and tries to persuade him that she is beautiful compared with other women. He is about to agree to their union when a bevy of beautiful young girls suddenly appear and Ruth is rejected. The girls are initially horrified to learn that Frederic has been a pirate, but are quite captivated by his charm and good looks. The youngest girl, Mabel, is particularly taken with him.

All of a sudden, the pirates reappear and capture the girls, with matrimonial intentions in mind. This is thwarted by the sudden appearance of Major General Stanley, the girls' father, who persuades the pirates that he is an orphan and therefore gains their sympathy. Ruth also reappears and pleads her love to Frederic, but he decides to return to law abiding society with Mabel.

The second act is set in Tremorden Castle, the home of the Major General, who is being consoled by his daughters as he bitterly regrets the lies he told in order to deceive the pirates. Frederic, however, is still resolved to exterminate the pirate gang, and has organised the local constabulary to this end. These gallant heroes, however, prove to be somewhat timidly inclined, and do little to inspire the girls' and the Major's confidence.

Before Frederic can leave with the expedition, the Pirate King and Ruth reappear and surprise him by pointing out that he was born on 29 February - making him a leap year baby, and as such he has really only had five birthdays instead of the twenty-one he thought. This means Frederic is still bound by the terms of his pirate apprenticeship, and his sense of duty means that he must return to the pirate fold, much to Mabel's distress.

The Pirate King, on hearing Frederic tell of the Major General's earlier deception, swears vengeance and decides to attack Tremorden Castle that very night, not knowing that the police have been called to arms. In the ensuing battle, the pirates manage to overpower the bumbling police, and are about to exact their revenge when the Sergeant reminds them of their allegiance to Queen Victoria, who makes a surprise guest appearance.

The pirates yield at once, and are about to be taken to justice when Ruth discloses that they are all really noblemen who have gone wrong. This revelation invokes the Major General's pardon, and he happily gives his permission for the pirates to marry his beautiful daughters, and Mabel is happily reunited with her beloved Frederic...

Text courtesy of ROS