The Pirates of Penzance

Guaranteed to be a major event, Mike Leigh (Palme d’Or winner & five-time Oscar nominee) directs his first ever opera for the stage. Gilbert & Sullivan’s popular comic opera features much-loved favourites including ‘A Policeman’s Lot is not a Happy One’ and ‘I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.’

Sentimental pirates, blundering policeman, absurd adventures and improbable paradoxes – Gilbert and Sullivan’s dazzling The Pirates of Penzance comes to ENO in a highly anticipated new production from renowned film maker and director Mike Leigh.

This much-loved comic opera is a showcase of brilliant humor and razor-sharp wit and features a sparkling score chock-full of memorable melodies and catchy tunes.

With stylish designs from Alison Chitty, this vibrant production is conducted by David Parry. The superb cast includes the ever-versatile Andrew Shore as the very model of a modern Major-General, Jonathan Lemalu as the affectionate parody of the British bobby, Robert Murray as the innocent pirate-apprentice Frederic, and Rebecca de Pont Davies as the older woman who has designs on him.