A
glorious thing to end my reviewing duties at the 21st Hilton festival. (Review
by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The Witness)
“It is,
it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King,” goes the song, and it was a
glorious thing to end my reviewing duties at the 21st Hilton festival with this
hilarious version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The
Pirates of Penzance.
Gilbert
and Sullivan die-hard purists and dedicated fans (of whom I have never been
one) might shudder at the idea of five male actors and a pianist taking on all
the roles of major and minor characters both male and female, chorus and
orchestra, but even they might have been won over by this award-winning
production. Of course it spoofs G&S, but it is affectionate. And anyway,
they are ripe for the spoofing.
In what
has to be ensemble work, David Dennis takes the lead, doubling as the
hard-of-hearing maid Ruth and the Major General, delivering his patter song
with aplomb and his usual superb diction. He also deserves a special award for
quick change work – what must have been going on backstage as men turned into
women and pirates to policemen almost defies belief.
It would
have been all too easy for the whole enterprise to slide into chaos and
slapstick, but Greg Homann’s direction is tight and the seasoned cast so
professional that it never wobbled. It is hard to single out moments in what
was two hours of disciplined mayhem, but the sight of Michael Richard drilling
his line of policemen’s helmets in Tarantara!
Tarantara! and explaining why A
Policeman’s Lot is not a Happy One will linger in the memory, as will David
Dennis’s expression when his hand encountered his ‘daughter’ Mabel’s (Clinton
Hawks) beard.
Murray Todd as the Pirate King and Keaton Ditchfield as
Frederick – great to see a new member of a theatrical family on stage – rounded
out the cast in this superb, madcap romp with pianist
and MD Rowan Bakker providing the accompaniment. . – Margaret von Klemperer
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