JOLLY : A PLAY ABOUT PYRATES
Written & Directed by Nemi Colette & Chad Nickson

Condemned! For high seas pyracy! Friends of no nation! Guilty of feral crymes against the crowne! Three anarchic pyrates in their final hours. 
Locked in a brig and sailing to certain death, three raucous pyrates have their fellowship hanging by a thread. When a rebellious crew member is thrown into their cell they see an opportunity to escape.

Will they unite behind this common goal, or fall divided?

Pirates have been mythologised throughout the centuries for their brutal violence, but the surprisingly progressive aspects of their lifestyle are often forgotten. While British and Spanish empires committed atrocities in the ‘new world’, these friends of no nation were championing a society of democracy, equality, and freedom.

In a time of rising populism, when social divisions are becoming ever more entrenched and the legacy of empire looms, ‘Jolly’ channels the ‘long gone’ era of pirates to satirise our modern political landscape. With a smirk and a bottle of rum, this play suggests that perhaps those vagabonds of the salty seas, with their radical resistance to imperial expansion, aren’t as far off in history as we think.
With shaky candle-lit lighting, rousing sea shanties, and irreverent humour, ‘Jolly’ explores the myth, reality and politics of pirates by combining historical sources and archival research with fiction.


Age Guidance: 15 and above

Contained bad language, adult themes, stage violence and references to slavery. 

Cast: 
Zora Owens
Kyle Best
Em Li
Phoebe Bakker
Kobi Taylor-Forder

Sabo-Tabby Theatre is named after the legendary ‘black cat’ known as a symbol for anarchist labour organising. In spirit of this, we strive to reclaim our trade from a competitive and profit-oriented industry. We are dedicated to sharing new ideas outside the assumptions of commercial theatre and draw inspiration from the artistic components of previous political movements. Our debut event was a last minute response to Ashtar Theatre’s callout for solidarity readings of their project ‘The Gaza Monologues’. We also run weekly ‘Experiment Rooms’, designed as a free, open space for creatives where we explore theatre and radical leftist politics.