TE AWAMUTU MUSICAL SOCIETY.

Waikato Argus, Volume VII, Issue 474, 15 August 1899, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU MUSICAL SOCIETY.

To morrow ovening the first production of the revival of " The Pirates of Penzance " will take place in the spacious Public Hall, and we anticipate a full measure of public support. No trouble or expense has been spared to render the production perfect in every detail; new and beautiful scenery has been purchased and the mounting and staging will be excellent. The plot of " The Pirates " is of the true Gilbertian order and is shortly as follows :—The Pirates are assembled on a rocky seashore on the coast of Cornwall, celebrating the coming of age of Hioir apprentice Frederic ; this young gentleman had been bound apprentice by his nursery maid Ruth, who " through •being hard of hearing" had mistaken the word " pilot " for " pirate," but on completing his indentures he had decided, being the slave of duty, to exterminatQ the whole band. After some discussion as to the disposal of Ruth, it is decided that she shall accompany Frederic who promises to marry her should she prove to be a good-looking woman. (Fredric has beeu at sea since the age of eight, and Ruth was his only female acquaintance). As they stroll along the beach they meet a bevy of beautiful girls, the daughters of Major General Stanley, whereupon he renounces Ruth, and Mabel, in a most tuneful number, bids him " Take heart, fair days will shine ; " Take any heart—take mine !"

Meanwhile, the pirates have entered stealthily and a 8 the girls turn to leave are seized by the pirates, who intimate their intention " to take the opportunity to get married with impuuity," when the Major-GeDeral appears on the scene and wishes to know their intentions. It may be stated, par parenthesis, that the Pirates of Penzance make a point of never molesting an orphan, so that when the Major-General states that he is one, their disgust and annoyance is unbounded, and the ladies are allowed to go free. The second scene is a ruined chapel by moonlight, where the Major-General is discovered seated pensively, surrounded by his daughters. In order to escape the pirates' clutches he had described himself as an orphan and is now " tormented with the anguish dread of falsehood unatoned." The police now' appear on their way to the pirates' lair, but as Frederic is about to follow them ho is waylaid by the Pirate King, and Ruth, who have discovered a most ingenious Paradox. It seems that Frederic's indentures show that he was apprenticed to the pirates till he should reach his twenty-first birthday, and as he wbb born on the twenty-ninth of February, he was —counting by birthdays—only " five and n little bit over." His sense of duty forces him to rejoin the pirates, and in the struggle, which ensues with the police, the latter are overcome. The Pirates, however, are all Noblemen, who have gone wrong, but are, nevertheless, most Loyal subjects, so that when the Sergeant charges them to yield "in Queen Victoria's name," they immediately do, and, being Peers, are soon forgiven by the Major-General, who con-' senls to their marriage with his daughters and all ends happily.