https://www.bard.org/study-guides/synopsis-the-pirates-of-penzance
Pirates of
Penznace Synoposis
On the
coast of Cornwall, a gang of pirates play
and party as Frederic (a pirate apprentice)
reminds the pirate king that his obligation
to the gang is soon over. He was apprenticed
to the pirates only until his twenty-first
birthday, which is that day, and he is
leaving them. Ruth (Frederic’s nursery maid
when he was younger) explains that Frederic
should never have been a pirate except for
her mistake: She was told to apprentice
Frederic to a pilot, but she misunderstood
and placed him with a pirate instead.
Frederic tells the pirates that, after
he leaves the gang, he intends to destroy
them, not because he doesn’t love them, but
because he loathes what they do. He is a
slave of duty and, when no longer a pirate,
it will be his duty to destroy them. The
pirates understand, and also complain that
they cannot seem to make money. Because
Frederic is a slave-of-duty to the pirates
until noon, he tells them why: Because they
are all orphans, the pirates will not rob
another orphan; and since all their
potential victims are aware of this, they
all claim to be orphans!
Because
Frederic has spent his entire life with the
pirates, he has never seen another woman;
thus he thinks he may want to take Ruth with
him as his wife. He asks Ruth if she is
beautiful, and she responds that she is.
Frederic, a very trusting young man, says
that he believes Ruth and he will not let
her age come between them.
At this
point, however, Frederic hears a chorus of
girls in the vicinity. He sees a group of
beautiful young women, realizes he was
betrayed by Ruth, and rejects her. Frederic
informs the girls that he is a pirate, but
not for long. He asks if any of the girls
will marry him, and the youngest, Mabel,
agrees.
The
pirates enter the scene, and each grabs a
girl. Major-General Stanley enters and
identifies himself as the girls’ father,
demanding to know what is taking place. When
the pirates tell Major-General Stanley that
they intend to marry his daughters, he
objects, saying he has an aversion to having
pirates for sons-in-law; the pirates respond
that they are opposed to having
major-generals as fathers-in-law, but that
they will put aside the objection.
Knowing about the pirates’ weakness,
Major-General Stanley tells them he is an
orphan and, thus, disarms the pirates and
takes his daughters, along with Frederic,
away to his family chapel and estate. The
major-general, who actually is not an
orphan, soon feels guilty about the lie he
told the pirates. Frederic, however, has a
plan to lead a squad of zany policemen
against the his old gang.
Before he
can act, however, the pirate king and Ruth
arrive to tell him that he is still
obligated to the pirates. Because Frederic
was born on February 29 of a leap year, he
has served only five birthdays, not the
twenty-one required by his contract. A
strong sense of duty forces Frederic to
relent, and, because he is a member of the
pirate band again, to reveal the truth that
Major-General Stanley is not an orphan. The
pirate king vows that he will have revenge
on the major-general.
Mabel enters
and begs Frederic not to go back to the
pirates, but bound by duty, he leaves. The
police ready their attack on the pirates,
while the pirates creep in to take revenge
on the major-general.
The pirates
defeat the police. However, when Ruth
divulges that the pirates are really
noblemen and they swear their allegiance to
the queen, the tables are turned--and the
police take the pirates prisoner.
However, because the pirates have never
really hurt anyone, they are soon forgiven.
The ex-pirates win the girls, Frederic wins
Mabel, and everyone lives happily ever
after.
you tube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KRbCTFqTlE
Indiana Wesleyan University presents Gilbert
and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance, on
Sunday, February 28th 2016 at the Phillippe
Performing Arts Center in Marion, Indiana.
