Bonny & Read

“Our voyage isn’t for the fainthearted”

Based on the trials of Captain Rackham and his pirate crew in Jamaica in 1720, history meets myth in this real-life story of the remarkable, cross-dressing women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and their fateful encounter with the infamous Jack Rackham, also known as Calico Jack.

Bonny & Read depicts the circumstances that led these two women to disguise themselves as men, go out to sea, and join the notoriously male-dominated world of piracy.

This epic voyage of twists and turns is a story of exceptional female bravery, adventure, and survival against all odds.

Bonny & Read is a new musical play by Claire Novello, with music composed by Frederick Appleby, and directed by award-winning director Kenneth Michaels.

Novanda Productions is dedicated to creating a platform to women’s untold stories, to obscure aspects of women’s history, and to voices that are rarely heard. It aims to produce new writing, plays and musical theatre, that inspire, intrigue and entertain, to tell stories by and about women that cross national and cultural borders and challenge received ideas.