The Place, London
December 18, 2023
Pirates! the latest work from Joan Clevillé and Scottish Dance Theatre, and the choreographer’s first specifically for children, revolves around would be pirate-story writer Tom and best friend Daisy being swept away from the reality of the sports store where they work into the world of Captain Sandy Rogers and her rowdy crew, forever trying to escape the show’s baddie, Admiral O’Greed. The adventure that ensues features slippery zombies, talking fish and other strange underwater creatures, culminating in a final duel, with feathers as weapons.
While essentially a story about friendship, there’s a lot of fun as it delivers its message. And while, it may be aimed at 7 to 12-year-olds, there’s plenty to keep the grown-ups amused too.
Photo Henry Curtis
Colourful and fast-moving, the shows mix of scripted theatre and dance zips along at pace, especially in Act I. It’s at its best in its more physical moments when it’s busy and the energy is high, and especially when the audience is involved. You could feel how much more alive the youngsters watching became during a game of hide and seek a rugby ball, when they were asked to yell ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ depending how close it was to being found, and in a closing game that involved a lot of table tennis balls being thrown, the latter over far too quickly. A couple of what felt like other opportunities were passed up, though.
The whole cast are terrific, throwing themselves into character and action. Dylan Read is perfect as the downbeat Tom, who really doesn’t have the heart for his 9 to 5 sports shop sales assistant job, but who comes to life as his imagination becomes reality. Besides acting and dancing, he does a brilliant job providing squelching sound effects for a cave scene and the ghoulish zombies, before putting in a remarkable turn as a howling dog, having been turned into a canine by the dastardly pirate-hunter Admiral O’Greed.
Tom has a great odd-couple relationship with Faith Prendergast’s Daisy, his manager and best friend, always covering and looking out for him. Irrepressible and full of enthusiasm, she’s a great one for team talks and, as we later discover, one-to-ones. Her after-hours team meeting that turns into a wonderfully silly aerobic dance with lots of sports references thrown in, is a blast and one of the show’s many fun ensemble dances.
For physical fun, however, the ‘Walking the Plank’ game in which the whole cast take turns to hurl themselves onto a crash mat in ever more crazy ways takes some beating. I also very much enjoyed a breathless group dance clearly inspired by a ceilidh.
Jessie Roberts-Smith is a bright and endearing Captain Sandy Rogers. Outwardly confident, she later reveals another side to her personality, however.
Photo Henry Curtis
Ben McEwen’s panto villain Admiral could perhaps have been a little meaner. But then he has a secret or two. He certainly reveals a different side as he circles and twists around the stage dancing a sort of lament. It’s as if his mask has unexpectedly been removed temporarily allowing use to see the real person beneath.
It’s all helped by Luke Sutherland’s energetic score with its many nods to sea shanties that bounces along. Elsewhere, one of the show’s more thoughtful, and rather beautiful moments, sees Roberts-Smith and Prendergast sing Hubert Parry’s arrangement of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Crossing the Bar.’ While Tennyson’s ‘bar’ is a metaphor for the barrier between life and death, something that can only be crossed in one direction, here it heralds change of a different sort, and a reveal that comes as quite a surprise.
With the help of Emma Jones’ lighting, Matthias Strahm’s set flips easily from the sports shop where manager Daisy and Tom work, to Captain Sandy Rogers’ ship to caves and underwater.
Things do seem to slow a little in Act II, which feels more text-heavy, but Pirates! is great theatre for youngsters. And a show full of good ideas that any imaginative teacher could take back and use in the classroom. I hope they do just that. But also a couple of hours that this grown up enjoyed a lot too!