The Pirates of Penzance - Schedule, Program & Tickets
The Pirates of Penzance
Operetta by Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert
In German and English with German and English surtitles
New version of the dialogues by Jennifer Gisela Weiss
In the 19th century, Penzance was one of the most idyllic and tranquil towns on the British Isles. Pirates... here?! The kings of English operetta, the writing duo Gilbert & Sullivan, had a way of humorously subverting their audience's expectations. With this satirical and subversive "recipe," they created one hit after another.
The rather crude story of The Pirates of Penzance would have done justice to British humor à la Monthy Python even in the 19th century: A young man is not trained as a pilot, but is sent to become an apprentice to the pirates of Penzance because his hard-of-hearing governess confused "pilot" (pilot) and "pirat" (pirate). Frederic would have actually completed his apprenticeship at the age of 21, had he not been born in a leap year! So, according to pirate logic, he's only five years old... Starting with this existential dilemma, a love story unfolds between the pirate apprentice and Mabel, a young lady from the British military aristocracy. Nothing would have been possible without the Queen in Gilbert & Sullivan, and so Victoria, as regina ex machina, will bring everything to a happy ending in the end.
The physical comedy duo Spymonkey landed a hit with audiences and critics with "Orpheus in the Underworld" at the Volksoper. With "The Pirates of Penzance," they take on the most British of all operettas!
Subject to change.
In German and English with German and English surtitles
New version of the dialogues by Jennifer Gisela Weiss
In the 19th century, Penzance was one of the most idyllic and tranquil towns on the British Isles. Pirates... here?! The kings of English operetta, the writing duo Gilbert & Sullivan, had a way of humorously subverting their audience's expectations. With this satirical and subversive "recipe," they created one hit after another.
The rather crude story of The Pirates of Penzance would have done justice to British humor à la Monthy Python even in the 19th century: A young man is not trained as a pilot, but is sent to become an apprentice to the pirates of Penzance because his hard-of-hearing governess confused "pilot" (pilot) and "pirat" (pirate). Frederic would have actually completed his apprenticeship at the age of 21, had he not been born in a leap year! So, according to pirate logic, he's only five years old... Starting with this existential dilemma, a love story unfolds between the pirate apprentice and Mabel, a young lady from the British military aristocracy. Nothing would have been possible without the Queen in Gilbert & Sullivan, and so Victoria, as regina ex machina, will bring everything to a happy ending in the end.
The physical comedy duo Spymonkey landed a hit with audiences and critics with "Orpheus in the Underworld" at the Volksoper. With "The Pirates of Penzance," they take on the most British of all operettas!
Subject to change.