A poster of Director Mike Leigh’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s "The Pirates of Penzance" at the English National Opera from 9 May to 27 June 2015, designed by Toby Leigh. Signed by Mike Leigh (on the image) and Toby Leigh (in margin), no. 50 of a limited edition of 100.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s "The Pirates of Penzance" premiered in December 1879, and remains one of the most popular operettas in the English language. Set in Cornwall in Victorian times, it tells the adventures of the love-struck Frederic, who is indentured to a group of comically useless and tender-hearted pirates. This operetta deals with the timeless themes of courage, duty and honour, as well as being a social commentary of its times. Fictions and plays about romanticised, often dashing, pirates were ubiquitous in the 19th century.