The Pirates of Penzance

Continuing the great success of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, students and staff of Wellington College International Tianjin performed the highly entertaining ‘The Pirates of Penzance’. This witty and humorous story of “pirates, policeman and beautiful daughters” was quite spectacularly performed in the school’s Seldon Theatre from 17th-21st March to a total audience of over 1,500 people. The show was directed and produced by the school’s father and daughter combination – Mr. Steve Griffiths and Ms. Jane Griffiths, with rehearsals and preparations being in full swing from the beginning of the year. This challenging and fundamentally ‘English’ operetta contained some spectacular performances from students as young as nine and as old as eighteen. With the Performance Arts being at the heart of the Wellington curriculum, this complex and traditional show provided students with little or no performing experience with a stage from which to show their parents, teachers, friends and local community exactly what can be achieved with dedication, perseverance and – most importantly, a little bit of flair.