The Durham Savoyards theater troupe’s single-minded dramatic mission began half a century ago: “Producing the topsy-turvy musical comedies of Sir William S. Gilbert & Sir Arthur S. Sullivan since 1963” is the group’s apothegm.

And for its anniversary, the group will present the Gilbert and Sullivan musical that Durham Savoyards first performed, “The Pirates of Penzance.”

The zany comic opera previews Thursday at the Carolina Theatre and runs Friday through Saturday, this weekend and next.

The operetta concerns the tribulations of young Frederic, whose wish to marry his beloved must wait out his apprenticeship to a band of tenderhearted pirates. Upon reaching his 21st year, Frederic is dismayed to learn that his birthday falls on Feb. 29, a leap-year, and that his freedom from servitude to the pirates will not be for another 63 years! (Zany, gilded-age comic libretto ensues.)

The performance is directed by Derrick Ivey, and features the musical direction of Alan Riley Jones. It stars Kenny Cruz as Frederic, Mary Elisabeth Hirsh as Mabel, and Stuart Albert as “the very model of a Modern Major General.”

When: Thursday-Saturday, and March 22-23, 8 p.m. Sunday, and March 24, 2 p.m.

Where: The Carolina Theatre, 309 West Morgan St., Durham

Tickets: $15-25

Info: carolinatheatre.org/events/pirates-penzance