Pirates of Penzance: Live

Prepare for a riotous Cornish beach bash with Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.

This isn’t your typical pirate tale. Instead of swashbuckling on the high seas, our story is set on the Cornish coast where a quirky cast of sentimental pirates, bumbling policemen and beautiful young women will steal your heart.

On his 21st birthday, Frederic is ready to leave his apprenticeship to a band of pirates behind in favor of a more respectable lifestyle, though the Pirate King argues that piracy is refreshingly honest compared to respectability. On a sunny beach, Frederic and his nursemaid Ruth encounter a group of charming young women. He falls head-over-heels for Mabel, the only one among them willing to help him turn over a new leaf. But just as love blossoms, the pirates return hoping to whisk the other sisters away to the high seas in merriment and matrimony.

Enter the Major-General — the girls’ protective father — who claims to be an orphan, winning the pirates’ sympathy and releasing the sisters back to their father's care. Later, as a police sergeant plans an arrest, a bombshell is dropped: born on Feb. 29, Frederic is legally only five! With duty and love colliding, chaos ensues in a wild, irreverent showdown that promises unexpected twists.

Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays at 2 p.m.
Run time is two hours including intermission.