Pirates: Boys will be boys (and girls).

Exclusive Video and interview with director Sasha Regan.

Memories of a school Gilbert and Sullivan production inspired director Sasha Regan’s hit all-male production of The Pirates of Penzance, currently touring Australia. It originated at London’s intimate Union Theatre, formerly a derelict paper warehouse. Sasha spoke to Neil Litchfield.

Long before High School Musical or Back to the 80’s, school productions of Gilbert and Sullivan were de rigueur. Boys dressed as girls, and vice versa in predominantly single sex schools. English director Sasha Regan remembers them fondly.

“I went to an all-girls school and we did a production of HMS Pinafore,” she said. “It’s just that thought in the back of your head of what your school productions were like; how those young voices sound, and the innocence of it all.

“Gilbert and Sullivan can sometimes be a little bit hammy and laboured. By having these young boys playing it, it’s almost as though they’re in a school and they’ve found a treasure chest and a pile of old costumes, and they decide to put a production on. So it has a very innocent charm, and not much set – there’s a couple of big old wooden crates that we’ve had built and some big cartoonish clouds on a big blue background.

“It’s to give it a new lift and energy, so that we can get new young audiences in, enjoying Gilbert and Sullivan again, because they’re so witty and the score is phenomenal. When you hear the cast of 18 singing ‘Hail Poetry’ in these six-part harmonies, it’s absolutely stunning. You can’t tell that it’s men singing, the falsettos are so strong. It’s beautiful music, and I think a lot of the young people who have been along to the show aren’t really aware that this Gilbert and Sullivan piece is well over a hundred years old.”

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Gilbert and Sullivan tradition used to be such a sacred cow until the copyright ended. I asked if there had been any mixed reactions?

“I didn’t want to show any disrespect to the piece or the music, because they’ve got a massive (traditional) Gilbert and Sullivan fan base in London. We do the score and the script exactly as written, and the vocals are absolutely beautiful. (Sasha later acknowledged they’ve kept one or two cheeky lines that started as ad libs, but otherwise the show is performed as written).

“We’ve got Michael England, who’s been conductor of Phantom of the Opera, Les Miz and all of the huge West End shows, and he makes their voices sound absolutely stunning. When the Gilbert and Sullivan Society come in to see it, you’re all really nervous, but I think they love it. They love that we’re attracting new audiences and young people.”

Sasha, clearly, is coming from a place of genuine of affection for the pieces, with a fresh approach.

“Absolutely. When I’m going to do a new one I get the CDs, and play them in my car on the way to work. I visualize things quite filmically in my head. So with Pirates, I had pictures in my head, like the design of the costumes, and what sort of choreography and what the boys should look like. You’re not influenced by what you think it should look like. If you wanted to stage a production of Cats for instance, everyone’s seen the DVD and you know the cats come through the audience, or A Chorus Line; how do you do a production without that choreography.

“The joy of Gilbert and Sullivan is that you can play with it a little bit, as long as you’re respectful with it.”

I’m intrigued by the fact that ideas for the production sprang into Sasha’s mind’s eye as she was driving to work, listening to the CD, and asked if she could share one of those filmic moments.

“You’ll see with the Policemen that they’re very stylized. Because it’s obviously the same people doing all three – the pirates, the women and the police – their physicality is very important. So the pirates are very ‘Lost Boys’, throwing themselves around and being as butch as possible, then we’ve got very elegant women when they come on as the girls. ”

I suggested to Sasha that in many ways Pirates is more about the male characters than the women anyway.

“With this production you come away remembering the women because they’re such strong characters on stage. I imagine the girls’ supporting roles in a traditional production of Pirates would be quite wet, in that ‘Oh I’m just a simple lady, and would someone come and rescue me’ type thing, but these women hold their own, with good comic timing.”

Having gone with an all-male cast Pirates, is there any G & S Sasha would consider taking in the other direction, with an all-female cast?

“This Pirates would probably still be a good production if it had women in it – a beautiful looking Gilbert and Sullivan, but when those boys come in through the auditorium, and they’re all in white petticoats and white corsets, and as they travel up the steps onto the stage, with the audience clapping as these girls … boys as girls … walk up and turn around to face the audience. I don’t think I could take it out of the show. It’s just so funny to watch, and you wouldn’t get that reaction if it was just girls doing it. ”

“But I would love to do a musical next with some girls in it.”

It’s been a long journey for this Pirates, from London’s fringe Union Theatre, which Sasha founded in a former paper warehouse in 1998, through its transfer to Wilton’s Music Hall, and now touring to the other side of the world.

The first night in Australia, in Canberra, surprised and delighted the company.

“There must have been about 700 people, and they were clapping and laughing from the first few minutes. We were having reactions like we’ve never had in London; it was absolutely phenomenal. Mabel had to stop at one moment. She was standing on stage just waiting for people to stop clapping.

“It’s a very big journey we’ve taken, and some of the guys were in that original production, and last night there were a few tears – like I can’t believe we’re here and we’ve travelled to the opposite side of the world, and the audience are so friendly and inviting of what we’re doing. It’s a wonderful feeling.”

Sasha Regan's production of The Pirates of Penzance plays at the Sydney Theatre from November 8 - 24, 2012

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Photographer: Kay Young.