This new project built upon the 2015 Pirates of Penzance Intergenerational Project. Performances took place every 20 miles or so between Kensington and Penzance, in schools, care homes and sheltered housing, supported by workshops along the way. 

Find out more about the project on social media using #Pirates2Penzance. 

The story so far…

Apprenticed to a gang of pirates since his infancy, Frederic falls in love at first sight with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. Unfortunately, the terms of Frederic’s apprenticeship prove to be more complicated than he thought. A leap year baby, he will not have completed his obligations to the pirates until his dotage. Romance, respectability and tongue-twisting patter songs collide in a knockabout conflict of loyalties.

A full report of the Pirates to Penzance tour with feedback from participants can be found here.

I just thought I’d write a quick email to say how impressed we were as a school with the performance yesterday. Staff and students really enjoyed it and commented on the quality of the performers. It was a fantastic opportunity to bring a performance of that standard into our school. I know many of our students don’t access the theatre in our rural setting so we’re very grateful for the chance we’ve had to see it here. Thank you for the time and energy you and your team put into this.
Michael Burr, Deputy Head teacher for Curriculum, Writhlington School, Radstock

 

It was a good experience for students to improve their cultural capital and experience a different style of performing arts. At first, secondary school students were quite hesitant to take part – possibly through fear of judgement from peers. The workshop worked well to engage students and develop their confidence. Students were really engaged by the performance at the end, despite the fact it was a new style for most of them. Students definitely gained interpersonal skills from the workshop and were able to improve their confidence. Our students realised that opera, at the very least, could be interesting despite not being something they found popular. One student even said that they were amazed by how much they enjoyed the experience. Students have openly admitted that it is a genre they haven’t engaged with but are curious about now.
Carlo Hooper, teacher of music at Hans Price School, Weston-super-Mare (performance with six local care homes)