Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire

Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire, plays on Sunday evenings until 19 February, and centres around pirates and religion. The product of a comedy partnership between an Anglican priest and a candidate for the Uniting Church Ministry, it examines the foibles of religion and combines it with pirate lore.

Before we join the Dread Ship Fisher o’ Men, we are treated to wry observational and sketch comedy, looking at religion, politics and humanitarian issues. There is a religious quiz and some very clever the social commentary. Tackling the big issues, the only problem may be that at first, some audience members failed to pick up on Chris Bedding and Paul ‘Werzel’ Montague’s very dry sarcasm. Affectionate satire, with a touch of the absurd, it provides a unique perspective of religious belief

While the first half is bitingly clever and funny, the second is even funnier.

The audience become the congregation of a lively church service aboard a pirate ship. You are required to deliver the responses, sing the shanties and partake of the Capt’n’s Rum. Those familiar with Christian church services, will recognise the format, but you can be sure that it is a lot funnier than your average church service. Hilarious, irreverent and I’m sure subliminally evangelical, Pirate Church is a unique experience and a sheer delight

Developing a bit of a cult following, with lots of return shipmates, Pirate Church - Burn It With Fire is appropriately a very hot ticket. I highly recommend reserving a pew.

Kimberley Shaw