The Pirates of Penzance is, in Tyrone Guthrie's vigorous resuscitation, always Jolly and often Roger.
Like last season's H.M.S. Pinafore, which he slapped into fresh life, Guthrie's Penzance is less D'Oyly Carte than carte blanche. The policeman's unhappy lot becomes hilarious when the London bobbies scamper on as Keystone cops. Blindfolded by their helmets, billies more or less at the ready, they go through their maneuvers like a ruptured accordion. Moreover, Guthrie has the courage to salvage the unsalvageable. At one point, the major general is the very model of comic relief when he buries a boring ballad by aping a concert...
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