SLAC sits down with Captain Penelope Caywood and her four year old daughter, Presley the Pirate to discuss 'How I Became a Pirate'
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. For me, HOW I BECAME A PIRATE is a great adventure into the imagination. It's a great trip into what a child imagines a pirate to be. So we get to see all of Jeremy Jacob's ideas about what a pirate is and what a pirate does. Because there are so many characters and so many great possibilities of characters in there – just like in the illustrations in the book, there are so many kinds of pirates. We really get to play with the extremes. For me as a kid, pirates were exciting – they weren't too scary – it was more about the adventure and about being on the open sea and about having funny words to say. And not having anyone to answer to. It's a little like running away to the circus or the carnival. It's running away to be a pirate. There's always, I think, a little part of all of us that wishes we could be really loud, say what we really want to say and just run away. To change your name and have a really cool name that you can make up – like 'Sharktooth' –
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Aye –
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. – or 'Braid Beard' –
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Aye –
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. I want to have a pirate name for myself. (To Presley) What is your pirate name?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. (With a pirate growl) Presley.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. Arggh. (At Presley's urging) I have done a lot of pirate shows in my life, so I have a lot of pirate paraphernalia, and one of my lucky charms is this pirate duck.
SLAC. That is the coolest duck I have ever seen.
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Do you have lots of other pirate lucky charms?
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. I do have lots of other pirate lucky charms – pirate earrings, and I've got pirate scarves... (To Presley) You're wearing one on your head. I have pirate band-aids.
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. They're just pretend.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. They are just pretend, but they just feel good. We even have a pirate skull and crossbones doormat that we've had for a long time. It's just a way to let people know we have got attitude in this house. Presley's first birthday was a pirate birthday party.
SLAC. What's your pirate name?
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. I'd like to be a Captain...
SLAC. You are a Captain.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. I guess I am. I could even go with Captain Penelope – or Lady Penelope. I'm Lady Penelope! So I'm just excited. Coming to the theatre is like getting on a ship. You can't leave until we let you off. So come aboard, and it will be a mini adventure – and hopefully for the adults it will be all the things we remember from playing pirates, and for the kids it will be some of their ideas of pirates. Ours just happen to sing and dance as well.
(Presley spies edible booty in a glass bowl on the mantle)
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. Your eyes are keen. It's some booty.
SLAC. Presley, what's your favorite part?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. "Bag the parrot!"
SLAC. That's my favorite part, too!
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What's your favorite song?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. All of them!
SLAC. Why should other kids come to see this play?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Because I like this play.
SLAC. You do? Is it funny?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Yes.
SLAC. What part?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. "Bag the parrot!"
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What about...? (She whispers in Pirate Presley's ear. Presley starts to laugh.) She does always laugh when we get to the part, "Your booty?!" What are some things that pirates like to say?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. (laughing) "Your booty!"
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What do they say when they're nervous?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. "Shiver me timbers!"
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What do they say when they want to say hello?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Hello!
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. "Ahoy!"
SLAC. Do you think you would make a good pirate on a ship? It seems like you would.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. Would you swab the deck?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Yeah.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What does that mean, when I say, "Swab the deck"?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. (Wearily) Mop the deck.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. I'm going to make you swab the deck at home.
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. For real?
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. For real.
SLAC. Presley, what would you tell your friends about the show?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I'd tell them about the booty part.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. You're going to spoil that part?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Nooooooo...
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. You can say booty, but just in the pirate way. No other way. (Laughter)
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I'll try to trick you...
CAPTAIN PENELOPE to SLAC. She's four.
SLAC. What would you like to say to Jeremy Jacobs when you meet him?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I'd like to say, "Shiver me timbers."
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. Does it make you feel all nervous inside? Shiver me timbers!
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. No.
SLAC to PRESLEY. Have you been helping your mom prepare for the show?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Yes.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. When I go home and start doing my pirate talk, she appreciates it, so that's helpful. She laughs at all my jokes.
SLAC. Does she show you some of her dance moves?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. She never shows me her dance moves.
SLAC. So it will be a surprise!
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. What do you think of Mom's shows when you go to see them? Are they good? Are they so-so?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I think they are so, so, good!
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. You like my shows better than you like Dad's shows, huh?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I like all the shows. I like your shows better, and I like Dad's shows better.
SLAC. How does this play differ from your other pirate shows?
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. One I like about the shows here is that they are not shows that are overdone. 'How I Became a Pirate' hasn't been done very often in Utah – it's a relatively new piece, so you're not fighting with anyone's preconceived notions about the piece. If you do Pirates of Penzance, everybody has a certain idea of how it's going to be, or they might have seen the movie. In this case, we just have the book, and from the book, our play goes all over the place to explore different parts of it, so we really get to create it from scratch, as if we were the first people doing it. I love that about a lot of the work here at SLAC, and about this show in particular. We can go as far as we want to go and play and go crazy about our ideas of pirates.
SLAC to PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Have you been on a boat or a ship?
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. She's never been on a ship. (To PRESLEY) What do you think it feels like to be on a ship?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. It feels like you're on the sea.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. (Pointing to the storm at sea in the book) Would you be scared if that happened to you?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. No.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. You wouldn't? How come?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. Because I would tell the mateys that they had to row back to the shore.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. "Row back to the shore!"
SLAC. It sounds like you would be the Captain then.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. Do you know how to draw a map?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I know how to draw a map.
CAPTAIN PENELOPE. If you had to bury a treasure, where would you bury it?
PRESLEY THE PIRATE. I'd bury it in the back yard. X marks the spot.
SLAC. Thank you, Penny & Presley. Now we get to go up and meet the mateys!
How I Became a Pirate plays December 9-30, 2011. For tickets, call our Box Office at 801.363.7522 or purchase online.
