‘A swashbuckling summer treat’ – opera group back in Louth with ‘Pirates Of Penzance’

By Richard Silverwood
Published 9th Jun 2025, 11:15 BST

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The annual visit to Louth by a successful theatre company will feature an all-new production of the ever-popular opera, ‘The Pirates Of Penzance’.

It’s exactly ten tears since the New London Opera Group last performed ‘Pirates’, which is one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s best-loved works.

Now they are on tour with it again and return to Louth, at the Riverhead Theatre, for a three-night run on Thursday, June 19, Friday, June 20 and Saturday June 21 (7.30 pm).

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The show also marks the beginning of the not-for-profit group’s third decade after the success of their 20th anniversary season last year when they performed an irreverent version of ‘HMS Pinafore’, also by Gilbert and Sullivan.

A policeman's lot is not a happy one! A scene from the New London Opera Group's last production of 'The Pirates Of Penzance' ten years ago.placeholder image
A policeman's lot is not a happy one! A scene from the New London Opera Group's last production of 'The Pirates Of Penzance' ten years ago.

This latest production will be conducted by the company’s musical director, Alex Carpenter, and staged by artistic director Chris Cann. The duo spearhead the team behind a wealth of successful and award-winning productions of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.

Chris explains the plot behind ‘The Pirates Of Penzance”, which is a funny, tuneful satire of class, romance and politics.

He says: “Frederic, apprenticed as a boy to a pirate crew, renounces his life of crime and vows to live an honest life with his new love Mabel.

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"But he soon learns that living on the right side of the law is not as easy as he'd thought. Especially not when his former crew, led by the fearsome Pirate King, arrive to make off with his new fianceé's sisters, incurring the wrath of a very modern major-general!

Another scene from 'The Pirates Of Penzance' production of 2015 by the New London Opera Group.placeholder image
Another scene from 'The Pirates Of Penzance' production of 2015 by the New London Opera Group.

"As the pirates prepare to do battle with the local constabulary, Frederic wrestles with his conscience. Will he stay loyal to his old crew or help the major-general put an end to the infamous pirates of Penzance?

"The opera is brimming with some of Arthur Sullivan's biggest and best tunes, including the romantic waltz, ‘Poor Wan'dring One’, the tongue-twisting ‘I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General’ and the hilarious ‘A Policeman’s Lot Is Not A Happy One’.

"Paired with WS Gilbert's razor-sharp, witty lyrics and vivid characters, the New London Opera Group’s new production of ‘The Pirates Of Penzance’ is a swashbuckling summer treat.”

Tickets, priced £16, are available now from the theatre’s box office.

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