29th June 2012

CHARD: Musical piracy lark makes a delightful show at Chard Guildhall

By Marion Draper

IF YOU like to listen to a good tune and be cheered by some young smiling faces, it’s not too late to catch the Chard Local Kids Society in their wonderful performance of Pinafore Pirates by Malcolm Sircom, which is playing at the Guildhall this week. 

There are evening shows are tonight (Friday) and tomorrow at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee  at 2.30pm.

The plot is reminiscent of a panto wthout the slapstick, lots of colourful characters, good versus bad, a love story, and a bit of magic thrown in. 

It is set in a land beset by female pirates who pillage every three months, taking a hostage as they leave. As the name suggests, the story is also a pastiche of some Gilbert and Sullivan favourites and those who are familiar with G&S will not be disappointed with the charactures, portrayed with gusto by the principles. 

The audience may enjoy playing spot the show as the magnificent seven who band up to thwart the pirates are all drawn from some of the best loved tales.  You don’t have to be a fan of the famous duo to enjoy this show however, it stands up on its own merit as something a little different and definitely some light hearted food for the soul. The music is cheerful and fun and the script light and comedic.

As always with a production by Maria and Jonathan Farey and Jackie Lifton, together with their excellent backstage team, every aspect of the show has been dealt with in a professional manner, with attention to detail in the performance and the staging.  

The choreography is beautifully smooth and the set has a balcony which doubles as the ship’s bridge, making a welcome extra dimension to the stage. Director Maria Farey purposely keeps the curtains open during the changes so the audience can view the work, which she thinks visually interesting. Please note the photographs here were taken at a rehearsal and not all the costumes were finished.  

With such a strong cast, no one should really be singled out in this performance but the five playing the male members of the seven impressed everyone with singing  their character pieces simultaneously: Mikado - Tom Bell; Sorcerer - Dom Wilsher; Duke of Plaza Toro - Gabe Swarbrick; Major General Stanley - Ben Carpenter; and Admiral Sir Joseph Porter - Sam Pullen.

Jemima Farey and Sam Crabb,  whose off stage romance added to their onstage characters as the heroine Daisy and her kidnapped love, Christopher, were charming to behold, both as a duet and soloists.  Calum Syrett did a great Irish cook Sam O’Nella to the pirates, who were a great bunch of gals led by feisty Zoe Bond as their man hating queen.

Iolanthe, Queen of the Fairies was floatily played by Emily Davis with Nanette the clumsy one taken by Fran Read and Joley Cols was a very convincing intellectual Princess Ida.

This had been the longest rehearsal ever for the young people of CLOKS who are all under 18 and have been regularly  meeting up since January for this fantastic show. The result was once more a polished and impressive performance by local youth, well deserving of support.

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