Resurrection (The Stage Play)
Resurrection is based on the first book of The Buccaneers Legend trilogy and introduces the audience to The Buccaneers. To produce such a complex story on stage, many theatrical techniques and stage effects are used to drive the narrative from the emergence of the pirates from the ghoulish apparitions to the macabre scene with Davy Jones. For a tourpack please get in touch with us via enquiries@amatheatre.biz or call us on 01462481969.
In the Novels the pirates relive important moments of their past and in the stage play these scenes are portrayed through the music and the narration conveyed in the lyrics. The music is taken from well-known Irish folk songs as made popular by groups such as The Dubliners and The Pogues’.
The production has had several live preview shows at theatres around the country with the first performance at The Baldock Arts Centre in Hertfordshire. Then in 2022 the show was staged at The Beccles Halls in Suffolk and Saltburn Arts, North Yorkshire. The final preview was staged at the Judi Dench Playhouse, part of the Questors theatre, London in April 2023. Each preview enabled the production team and writers to gauge the appeal of the show to audiences and to adjust the script accordingly to enhance the overall running of the show so that it keeps audiences engaged by the fast-paced plot.
This extraordinary musical play is even more remarkable when one considers the entire production was created by only two people, Ian Britten-Hull, and Annie Albici of AMA Theatre Co. You can discover more about the creation of The Buccaneers, on “The Origins” page.
Resurrection will be touring in 2024/25.
“Had a great evening, a good laugh & a toe tapping sing along. A very well-done production. We had to come and say how much we enjoyed it. It was brilliant.” – Audience member.
“The dance and fight pieces were spectacular and real highlights. It’s humorous, but also humble. I think it’s a wonderful performance.”
Kyra J Willis theatre producer.
“The show had energy, colour, and spectacle with an array of familiar and rousing musical numbers. We commend you for your enthusiasm and commitment to staging such a complex production.” – Liz Ellis – Baldock Arts Centre.
The ghouls return from Davy Jones’ Locker and are the hideous chrysalises from which the new born pirates will emerge. With their haunting melody of a long-forgotten sea shanty, the ghouls explore their ship and with the crashing of thunder they split apart, and the pirates are reborn...
The newly reborn Anne Bonny exerts her authority over John Rackham who has no idea of who he is or any memory of his past. Unlike her, she has her memory intact and knows everything that happened to the others in their past lives. With her cunning, authoritativeness and the compassion she developed later in her life, she is the ideal candidate to unite the crew once more...
Alone on the deck, Anne Bonny wonders what is going on and why they are here again on their ship. Are they dead and gone to hell? Or are they ghosts, made to haunt their ship for eternity as a recompense for their past sins?
Then she hears a voice in the wind telling her to guide her companions as they regain their memories and to steer them away from aggression and selfishness and to find their true selves in their long-forgotten pasts...
Anne’s three companions are traumatised by their haunting memories as they gradually return, especially the young lad, Mark Read. He experiences waking nightmares about some mysterious child and the vision of the noose. Anne knows all too well each of their dark secrets, but she has to let them discover those memories for themselves. All she can do is lead and guide them and be comforter to each of them as their past slowly catches up with them...
As the pirates’ memories start to return, they soon fall back into their old ways of aggression and violence. Anne has to use everything in her power to control them, even to resorting to aggression herself at times. But she has to be ruthless and strong when she tells them that they have all risen from the dead as the fact is so fantastical, will any of them take her seriously?...
McTavish regains his memories and discovers his true identity when he is confronted with his own death in his previous life. He escaped capture and made his way back to Scotland to join the Jacobite rebellion where he was fatally injured at the famous battle of Culloden...
Jack and Anne remember when they first met as lovers and how life had been much happier then. Jack confesses to Anne that whenever he was taken over by “the brain fever,” he would often look to the stars for guidance and answers. It becomes evident that Jack suffers with bi polar and could explain his violent mood swings of the past...
Mark Read has a secret he would rather keep from the rest of the crew for fear of reprisals and rejection, but Anne believes this fear is irrational and unmasks the boy, revealing that in truth, Mark Read is really Mary Read.
The strange thing is though, Anne knows everyone knew Mary and how she would disguise herself as a man in the past, so why don’t they remember now? How will they react once the truth is uncovered and is their reaction some kind of test of their humanity...
Anne convinces Mary that even if she identifies as a man, she should do so by just being herself and not resort to hiding behind a disguise to please others. They either accept you for who you are, or they don’t and if they don’t, then that’s their problem.
Mary gains some confidence from Anne’s words and especially when the others accept her, but she is still troubled by the painful visions of a child...
John Rackham or Calico Jack as he is commonly known, is faced with the memories of when he was young, adventurous, and easily led. He is confronted with the time Anne got him into trouble by stealing a watch and planting it on him. She did get him released from prison, but that was not only the beginning of their romance. It was also the start of his criminality. Jack embraces who he was before meeting Anne and discovers the young, passionate, and caring young man he used to be...
Although Anne had not lost her memory, she has memories she personally blocked out as they were too painful for her. McTavish tells her that she can only move forward by facing her fears and confronting her own painful past.
With trepidation and with the support of the crew, Anne relives her life with her husband, James Bonny and the abuse and mistreatment she took from him. She remembers the gypsies who were kind to her, and it was their free spirit that ultimately led her into the arms of John Rackham and piracy...
Anne’s worst fears are realised when, without warning, Mary suddenly remembers the past. The child and the noose all make sense, but the guilt weighs heavily on her shoulders. She cannot forgive herself for what she did, but McTavish consoles her and tells her the real villains were those who caused her and the child’s suffering. “They were the heartless ones, and they called us Barbarians!”...
Finally they all remember who they are and what they did. But they also remember the people before they were pirates and the humanity they once had.
They realise they were basically good people but because of abuse, mental illness, and rejection they became pirates.
With all they have been through, Anne suggests they have a celebration with plenty of ale and rum. But their joy does not last long as another threat to their existence is lurking in the shadows...
Whether it was real or just an illusion brought about by all the drinking, but that night as they slept and Anne kept watch on the deck, Davy Jones rose from his locker. He did not like the fact he had lost four souls and he wants them back!
The atmosphere on the ship is not conducive to a creature that inhabits the ocean floor and as he cannot survive for long out of the water, his spirit takes over Anne. Through her he attempts to regain the souls of the four pirates...
A possessed Anne Bonny captures the others, and they begin turning back into ghouls ready for the voyage back to the depths of the ocean and the realm of Davy Jones.
Is this the end of their new lives? Not even Anne has the strength to fight back. When everything seems lost, the spirit that has been guiding them all this time reveals herself through the Jolly Roger and defeats Davy Jones and once again saves the souls of the resurrected pirates...
The spirit reminds them of what they have learnt about themselves and the humanity they now have. They must now go forward with their cunning, deviousness, courage and their new found empathy to seek out the injustices and suffering in the modern world and fight against it.
Even the Jolly Roger has a new meaning – A skull representing suffering and two swords to fight against it.
They are no longer mere pirates, from now on they shall be known as The Buccaneers!