Courage Performers are once again heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, after previewing its fast paced, humorous adaptation of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon on Tuesday night.

Pirates of Men’s Pants, directed by and also starring Felicity Courage, follows 21-one-year old Frederick (Tom Babbage), a pirate who has completed his apprenticeship and is eager to experience life on dry land and to ‘quit my vile profession.’ Babbage leads the 10-strong cast with his on-point humour and portrays an innocent Frederick, who has never seen a woman except for his old nursemaid Ruth (Felicity Courage), who convinces him she is beautiful.

Courage successfully captures sympathy from the audience when Frederick encounters some more attractive girls onshore, the Major General’s daughters, and falls in love with Mabel (Rachel Butterworth).

The actors characterised each part with their own little mannerisms, particularly Joe Gunn, who was the “model of a modern Major General.” His job is to fight off the returning pirates, led by the imposing Pirate King (Luke Rees-Oliviere), who want to marry his daughters.

The set was minimal, as appropriate for a touring show – the striking ship was the central prop, adorned with flags and the all-important pants.

Impressively after barely a month’s rehearsals, the lines were delivered on cue and the fine tuned singing and humorous dancing moved the storyline along seamlessly.

Pirates of Men’s Pants stayed true to the storyline but with snippets of the modern world, with selfies, Facebook and twerking all appearing in one song. The inclusion of classic numbers such as Stay Frederick Stay, makes sure audiences of all ages can appreciate this jazzy adaptation, whether they have seen the original or not.

The cast set sail for Edinburgh tomorrow, where they will perform until August 16.