Exclusive: All-male Pirates of Penzance returns for UK tour

The WhatsOnStage Award-winning production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance will return for its first UK tour later this year, WhatsOnStage can reveal.

The production opens at Richmond Theatre on 15 April 2015, before visiting venues including Bath, Guildford, Brighton and Hackney (full tour schedule below).

First seen at the Union Theatre in 2009, The Pirates of Penzance went on to win Best Off-West End production at the 2010 WhatsOnStage Awards.

It has previously played Wilton's Music Hall and Hackney Empire – where it will return as part of the new tour – and also toured to Australia.

Gilbert & Sullivan's ever-popular operetta, first seen in 1879, follows young Frederic, a child apprenticed to a band of tender-hearted, orphaned pirates exploring the coastline in search of treasure and romance.

The new production will feature Alan Richardson as Mabel, Samuel Nunn as Frederic, Alex Weatherhill as Ruth, James Waud as Sergeant of Police, Michael Burgen as Samuel, Ben Irish as Edith, Dale Page as Kate, Richard Russell Edwards as Connie and Chris Theo-Cook as Isabel.

The ensemble company is completed by Joel Elferink, Joseph Houston, William Whelton, Matt Jolly, Tommy Knapp, Liam Lakin and Thomas Henson.

The Pirates of Penzance is directed by Sasha Regan and choreographed by Lizzi Gee with musical direction by David Griffiths, design by Robyn Wilson Owen and lighting design by Jack Weir. It is produced by Regan De Wynter and Hilary A Williams.

Tour dates

15-18 April 2015 – Richmond Theatre
20-25 April – Winchester Theatre Royal
27 April-2 May – Bath Theatre Royal
4-9 May – Guildford Yvonne Arnaud
19-20 May – East Riding Theatre
21-23 May – The Spa, Bridlington
26-30 May – Brighton Theatre Royal
2-6 June – Exeter Northcott
24-28 June – Hackney Empire