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Pirates show is shipshape and full of passion
King's Theatre, Edinburgh 
Monday 19th March
2007
The sheer enjoyment
Edinburgh G & S Society members generate gives their productions a head start.
They know their lines and music thoroughly and the pleasure they derive from
performing is evident.
To begin at the
beginning, the overture was played quite well - if perhaps a little cautiously.
Its slow middle section could have moved on a little more fluently. The curtain
went up to reveal a large band of pirates in boisterous mood and good voice. One
of the best attributes of this performance was the high quality of singing
David
Lyle drew from his big chorus.
Alan Borthwick's
production was wonderfully thoughtful and genuinely funny. After cavorting
around in rugby-scrum fashion, his chorus of girls sat down and accompanied
their 'Climbing over rocky mountains' with a well-rehearsed hand-jive routine.
There were many deft touches to surprise and delight. In 'Sighing softly to the
river', caught by a gentle breeze, the tall upstage trees wafted to and fro in
accordance with the words.
At its best,
Susanne Horsburgh's Ruth portrayal was adequate. She was not always able to hold an even
vocal line. Ian Lawson's swashbuckling Pirate King was convincingly larger than
life. Banging away with his pistol, he accidentally brought down a bird from on
high. Both in speech and song, Darren Coutts gave a clear account of the
duty-bound Frederic.
Fiona Main opened with
a suitably light and agile version of 'Poor wand'ring one!'.
Scott Thomson was a
lively Major-General Stanley. As the Sergeant of Police and suitably backed by
some horsing around on the part of his rescue squad,
Simon Boothroyd made the
most of some of the best items in Act II.
SANDY SCOTT
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