Rehearsals are in full swing as Blackburn Gilbert and Sullivan Society proudly present ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ during the last week in February 2020.

Gilbert and Sullivan Society final performances of 2020 take place on Leap Year Day, with a matinee for the first time as well as an evening performance on that Saturday.

To get into the party spirit, the audience are encouraged to come dressed as pirates and to sing along with the chorus at those performances.

For those unfamiliar with the show the plot revolves around Frederick who is about to leave the Pirate band to which he was mistakenly apprenticed when a little boy. It is his birthday and he is 21 years old, but it transpires that he was born on Leap Year Day and so, by that reckoning, he has only had 5 birthdays and he is apprenticed until his 21st birthday. He is the Slave of Duty and so cannot leave the band for many more years. However, his true love, Mabel, will wait for him.

When he thought he was leaving the pirate band Frederick had arranged to lead a fierce team of police to arrest the pirates and bring them to justice….but he can't do that if he is still an apprentice pirate. What to do??

The plot unfolds with a bevvy of lovely daughters, an elderly spinster, inept policemen, soft-hearted pirates and a military man who knows nothing about warfare. It's Gilbert and Sullivan at their best and funniest.

For more information contact blackburngands@gmail.com