The Successful Pyrate is a play by Charles Johnson, first performed 1712, published 1713, dealing with the life of the pirate Henry Avery.
[1] The original cast included Barton Booth as Arviragus, Robert Wilks as Aranes, John Mills as Boreal, Theophilus Keene as De Sale, William Pinkethman as Sir Gaudy Tulip, Henry Norris as Chicane, John Leigh as Jollyboy, William Bullock as Judge Bull, Christopher Bullock as Serjeant Dolt and Mary Porter as Zaida.
There is an offstage fight and Aranes is reported killed; meanwhile, De Sale, who has confided to the audience that he plots to overthrow Arviragus and make himself king, ingratiates himself with Zaida.
It is revealed that Aranes is Arviragus' long lost son, whom he recognizes from a bracelet, and that he is still alive, his friend Alvarez having died in his place.
The pirates are mostly fools, in particular Sir Gaudy Tulip, an aged and cowardly London beau; the Gang-i-sawai is, for no reason other than comic effect, carrying two European ladies, Tulip's ex-mistress and another pirate's ex-wife, who exchange tart comments with the men; the drunken conspirators and outrageously partial court are played entirely for laughs.