FIRSTLY, the use of the words swashbuckling, doubloons, etc. will be kept to an absolute minimum. This shouldn’t be too hard as, while writer and co-director Olivia Jayne Newton pays homage to past entries into the pirate genre, she makes a good choice of using contemporary language throughout the fun and well-written Crossed Swords.

This York Footlights Theatre production is well balanced, mixing both humour and very tender and touching moments. The humour often comes from Samuel Valentine’s character, Henry Smythe, and his misunderstood "compliments" alongside the comical rapport between him and Richard Thirlwall's Sam Kendrick, who is desperately trying to prove himself as a pirate.

The tenderness comes from the relationship between co-director Daniel Wilmot's dandy Calico Jack Rackham and Newton's fierce Anne Bonny, as they are not simply portrayed as typical caricature pirates but as rounded characters who show affection towards each other.

 

York Press:

Daniel Wilmot as Calico Jack Rackham and Olivia Jayne Newton as Anne Bonny in Crossed Swords

However, the true heart of the story is the relationship between Anne Bonny and Natalie-Clare Brimicombe's Mary Read. Mary is originally posing as her deceased brother, Mark Read, to gain acceptance from both the navy and pirates alike.

While the revelation of Mary’s true character to Anne is not paced as well as it could be, their relationship is greatly developed throughout the production, showing the bond of two women and the hardship of striving to create their own destiny, unrestricted by the influence of men.

One of the show's best aspects is that it is decorated with various sea-shanties performed by the cast, with most of them playing a varied range of instruments. This enhances the script and helps to build on its setting.

The cast do an excellent job in using their various different talents to create a performance that builds on the famous aspects of the golden age of piracy we all know through various adaptations. What is more engaging, however, is the focus on the underrepresented women of this age through the dramatisation of Anne Bonny and Mary Read's story and its powerful ending.

York Footlights Theatre present Crossed Swords, Upstage Centre Theatre, 41 Monkgate, York, until Sunday, 7.30pm plus Sunday matinee, 2.30pm. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/crossedswords. Proceeds will go to York Mind. Please note, Crossed Swords contains strong language and moderate adult themes and is suitable for age 12 and over.