Whether we care to admit it or not, in some way, shape or form, we are all intrigued by pirates. Whether aboard a historical pirate ship, or committing piracy on the internet, these people known as pirate challenge society and in some cases, claim to protect the innocent. A Mutineer’s Guide to Modern-Day Piracy very cleverly combined historical and modern times to create a piece that used piracy as a compelling framework to examine how the corporate world using personal data to create click bait content, as depicted at times on platforms like YouTube, for instance.
Energetic and engaging
Told from the perspective of 'N' (Ez Holland), her wonderful storytelling skills showed her journey into cyber piracy as she wanted to make a difference in the world by protecting the innocent who were fighting to survive. As N meets her idol, cyber pirate 'X' (Nic Lawton), she learns all about women pirates such as Mary Read (also Holland) and Anne Bonny (Amy Whittam). These stories are interwoven into her own story of self discovery. As X rather rudely told her, "You can't be a part of this mutiny till you know what it means to be a pirate."
Despite occasionally having the sound threaten to drown out the fantastic performances involved, what evolved was a very strong feminist piece with a fiesty take on how women could make a difference by using cunning tactics to take on the world. The historical and modern costumes, plus the filming, lighting and editing skills involved to make this happen were well thought out, slick, and dramatic. At times, the story was dark enough to evoke thought provoking scenes that made you rethink history, and see how much it could overlap with the modern world. Aided by Daniel Coleman's energetic and engaging style of writing, every character was brought to life with such passion and vigour that we were left wanting more.
Holland's Mary Read's razor sharp wit almost felt like we were being stung by her rapier as she teamed up with Anne Bonny to bring down the navy ships. In contrast, Whittam's Bonny was blunt and straight forward, but remained inspiring to watch as she worked with Read to change history.
Lawton's 'X' had a difficult journey ahead as she challenged the corporate world, but was brought to life by the hard hitting, down to earth approach as she worked to get to where she needed to be. This was well complimented by Nick MacCormack's jovial, yet practical Mark Zuckerberg inspired character Joel Icarus. He presented the concept of Libitas, a social networking site that brought individuals and businesses together in an accessible and friendly way. He remained calm and positive whilst challenging 'X's perspective, as opposed to her firey passion, and it was interesting to watch these total opposites fight both sides.
A Mutineer's Guide to Modern Piracy presented a well balanced piece that put across both sides in an exciting and dynamic way, and was a strong online highlight for Brighton Fringe.
