The Pirates of Penzance

Charlottesville Opera’s second summer production, The Pirates of Penzance, unfolds in a pitch-perfect comedy of errors featuring sentimental swashbucklers, ineffectual police officers, and deeply dutiful young lovers. A technicality threatens to upend Frederic’s newfound freedom, catching the young man in a tug of war of loyalties that sets him both at odds and in league with the titular crew of privateers. Hilarity unfolds in a libretto penned by W.S. Gilbert, accompanied by memorable music by Arthur Sullivan.