by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Richard Maltby Jr. & John Dempsey
Based upon the book Grania – She King of the Irish Seas by Morgan Llywelyn
presented by Sedos
The Pirate Queen is an epic musical adventure from the writers of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, celebrating the legendary Irish chieftain Grace O’Malley.
Disguised as a cabin boy to stow away on her father’s ship, Grace starts a lifetime of fighting traditional expectations of women and standing up for what she believes in. Ultimately, she must seek to make peace between the Irish clans and another powerful female ruler in Queen Elizabeth I of England – while deciding what personal sacrifices she will make for her country.
The Pirate Queen is based on the real life of Gráinne Ní Mháille, anglicised as Grace O’Malley, and mixes romance, sword fighting, politics and piracy in a thrilling story packed with stirring songs from renowned musical theatre writers Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil.
With Irish music and dance woven throughout, The Pirate Queen asks how far you would go to protect what you love and explores what it is to be trapped by society’s beliefs about gender, culture and tradition.
Sedos is an ambitious, vibrant and inclusive London theatre society, striving for excellence and creativity in our productions for over 100 years.
This is the second time Sedos has staged a show at the Minack, following A Swell Party in 2019, a celebration of the life and work of Cole Porter. Reviewer Jenni Balow praised the show with the words: “What a swell party that was… classily directed… a triumph of an Art Deco set… the Sedos singers seemingly effortlessly swing through around 50 famous numbers… [the team] make it all so believable. When’s the next party?”
Sedos’s next Minack party is here – but we’ve swapped high society in the 1930s for the high seas of the 1500s!