Review: We Could Be Pirates at Bridport Arts Centre

Bridport Arts Centre

Rosie Mathewson is a name to note. At Bridport Arts Centre the BACstage Youth Theatre company brought her play “We Could Be Pirates” to life, and it was a rip- roaring success.

The play starts as her family, realistically portrayed by Talis Snell, Felix Ford and Winnie Chaney, move to the seaside and we hear from an appealing busker that there is a mystery of disappearing children. 

Sasha, beautifully played by playwright Rosie, doesn’t fit in with her family, and we discover that she is autistic and needs to be allowed to be herself, quirks and all. When she runs away from home to live with pirates, led by their captain Cosmo, charmingly played by Alfie Rose, she at last discovers the approval and companionship she has been longing for.

The crew it turns out are all runaways too. They all rise to the challenge of the lively dialogue – snappy response at one point from Alice Armstrong  as Bones  of  “I’m a Doctor not an encyclopaedia” which had the deserved guffaws of laughter from the audience. 

Josfin Komi (Image: Sam Rose) The whole cast took every opportunity for piratical behaviour, which gave the play a lively, engaging energy. The structure of the play, including the imaginative and unexpected appearance of a Selkie, a seal that can transform into a human, beautifully played by Millie Downton, was a creative way to explore the issues of acceptance and friendship, questions that are important part of young people’s lives.

Director Niki McCretton and her assistant Jenny Harrold must be praised for the pace and confidence that the cast revealed in this premier of a play written by a company member. The reappearance of the busker and the final song brought this impressive production to a heart-warming end. 

The company included Talis Snell, Felix Ford, Winnie Chaney, James McMillan, Millie Downton, Albie Walker, Alfie Rose, Sonny Willow, Josfin Komi, Maisy Franklin,  Alice Armstrong and Rosie Mathewson.