It’s not often I get out to see a play, but on Saturday the 11th of this month I attended the Pirates of Penzance at the Paradise Performing Arts Center. I went with my wife and a few friends from work. We were all in attendance to support our co-worker who was playing the Pirate King. I had never heard anything about the play seeing as how I don’t get into theater and the arts that often. My wife on the other hand has been in several theater groups and is knowledgeable about that area of expertise. She grinned at me the whole ride to the theater saying, “Just wait, you’re going to love it!”

We got there plenty early and took our seats. Unfortunately there wasn’t a cocktail waitress, but at least the seats were comfy. The play, or wait wikipedia called it a comic opera, well this was done in more of a musical style…Well anyway, the musical was fantastic. Right off the bat you realize that the pirates are sort of ‘softies’, who cannot harm anyone who claims to be an orphan. It sounds sort of crazy and it is. The whole musical was incredibly entertaining and knowing an actor on stage makes it so much more personal. I know this person at work and now having seen him in this opera, I sort of see him in a new light. When he’s at work he is kind of a quiet guy, but during the musical he sang wonderfully, danced incredibly and didn’t miss a beat (that I noticed). It makes me think of that discussion we had in class about people being able to have multiple personas. We talked about Eugene de Kock and how he could be a loving father at home and a killer at work. It’s strange to think that people can flip that switch and go into a different mind set. My co-worker and all actors probably do something similar to prepare mentally for going on stage.

Back to the musical, it was a great time. I don’t want to ruin the whole thing for people who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it, but basically a young man turns twenty one and parts from the pirates he’s spent his life with. The young man falls in love with the daughter of a major general (who was hilarious) who loves him in return. To find out the rest I recommend keeping an eye out for the next available showing. From now on I may be a bit more willing to attend plays and musicals with the wife in the future.

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