The Pirates of Penzance

Church Hall, Barnes

January 1934

Musical Director – Miss Edith Hays

Produced by – Mr & Mrs Enes Blackmore

The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert.

It is one of the Savoy Operas. The official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on December 31, 1879, where it was a hit with audiences and critics. The London premiere was on April 3, 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances, having already been playing successfully for over three months in New York.

Pirates remains popular today, taking its place along with The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore as one of the most frequently played Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Its successful 1981 Broadway revival by Joseph Papp refreshed its popularity.

Can you help with more information? Please send any information you have over to archives@brostc.org.

CAST

Major-General Stanley – Edward Bellamy

The Pirate king – John Webster

Samuel – Louis Mayo

Frederic – Walter Peck

Sergeant of Police – Walter E Ranson

Mabel – Violet Hurst

Edith – Marion Ranson

Kate – Kathleen Kirby

Isabel – Kathleen Barker

Ruth – Violet Tomkins

Chorus of Pirates, Police & General Stanley’s Daughters – Alice Anderson, Kathleen Bartlett, Dorothy Branson, May Broad, Nora Butler, Peggy Davis, Doris Ellis, Peggy Frost, Daphne Grange, Miriam Greatorex, Irene Hamblin, Tony Lamb, Doris Mayo, Lilian Parry, Hilda Potts, Trevor Adams, Gordon Broad, Alfred burrows, John C Broad, J C Mills, Percy Catchpole, Leonard Dearmer, F E Harris, Richard Frost, Jack Kirkby, W Kirkby, Bernard Lamb, Charles Long, E M Walsh, Austin Rowe, Lewis Tanner

CREW

Scenery by – Cape of Chiswick

Costumes by – C H Fox Ltd