Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado", Charing Cross Theatre

emilylouisehardy
Dec 11, 2014
4 min read

By Megan Prosser

“How old is it?”

“It’s 230 years old. It’s amazing. Everyone goes on about Les Mis, Les Mis – but this has been running for 230 years!!!”

This was the conversation that took place in Row J of the Charing Cross Theatre, just after the curtain fell on Thom Southerland’s new, and completely stunning production of “The Mikado”. I was sitting in row K… and I scribbled it down immediately.

Let’s focus on Time, for a minute (no pun intended). As Nanki-Poo says to his bride on the day of their wedding in Act II, “Bah! These divisions of time are purely arbitrary!”

G&S may get a bad rap for being old-fashioned, or outdated, and it might be true that it is not as esteemed or protected as its pure, full-blown Opera counterparts. But who’s to say that it isn’t as fresh now as it was 230 years ago? This talented team of cast and crew certainly strive to make it so by giving it a strong Musical Theatre twist, and doing away with many of the antiquated G&S customs (“don’t it?”), which results in a highly-enjoyable production for seasoned fans and newcomers alike.

The only Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta which I know well, thanks to the summer of my 19th year spent playing a Fairy at The Minack Theatre in Cornwall, is Iolanthe, the wonderful but frankly, much less hummable cousin to its Japanese counterpart. So, for my visit to this latest Mikado, I prepared by listening to the Ohio Light Opera version of the show, 5 times through, on Spotify. That version had a full and lush orchestra, as you might expect, but in this wee underground space, the score was played out on two grand pianos (remarkably effective).

My first impression, when compared to the G&S that I have experienced in the past, was that this production was extremely pacey – the dialogue moving at breakneck speed rather than the grandiose, trilled and drawn out manner of speaking that I was expecting. There’s a modern twist on the costumes too. When I first read in the PR overview of the show, that it would be set in a “fan factory”, rather than the traditional court, I was a little sceptical. However, the setting lent itself to a beautiful, Roaring 20’s theme, and Southerland has not felt it necessary to bend the libretto or the characters to fit his vision, which is a relief. In addition, the concept fits well with the idea of Ko-Ko (now transmuted to the owner of the factory) as a “cheap tailor”.

In fact though, parts of the libretto have been re-written, but to fit the modern day audience rather than the design. Noticeably, The Lord High Executioner’s list of people to be beheaded (“I’ve got a a little list, they’d none of them be missed…”) become modern figures of hatred. Plebgate’s Andrew Mitchell, the cast of TOWIE, the Ranter David Mellor, no-one is safe in Southerland’s bid to give the audience the feeling of current-affairs recognition and enjoyment that they would have had, had they been watching this show in 1885. As Shakespeare did with his bucolics, Gilbert and Sullivan in their day used The Mikado to build a satire by drawing a parallel between The Japanese Court and The Victorian Government. For my part, I know that I would MUCH rather spend the evening in Meiji-era Nippon than in the forest of Arden, or by listening to Gladstone fight with Disraeli, so I am grateful!

The overarching style is in very good company with current West-End hit “The Scottsboro Boys” – bright colours, red black and white, and an expressionist, marionette-style to the movements. Southerland, choreographer Joey McKneely, and all other key members of the production team, have an excellent sense of humour that is superbly born out by the cast in the dancing and props. My absolute favourite scene was when Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush had tea, eating cucumber sandwiches with chopsticks. I loved it.

It’s hard to pick one, or even five stand out performances from the cast, everyone is so strong and the effort from each actor is palpable. But Leigh Coggins as Yum-Yum has THE voice of the show – soaring, clear as a bell, and she is as hilarious as she is tiny in her beautiful furisode kimono. In addition, deep praise owing to Rebecca Caine as a Cruella De Vil-esque Katisha, and newcomer Cassandra McCowan as Pitti-Sing. My first impression of Hugh Osbourne as Ko-Ko was that he was going to prove a rather toothless executioner, as he was so much more likeable than the character usually is, but he was fantastic also, especially in his love scene with Kaine, “There is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast”.

As I learnt from the Programme that I leafed through during the interval, there are 14 comic operas in the Gilbert And Sullivan canon. Take a week off, and listen to 2 a day until you’re done. I promise, you will get into them.

But first, go and see this Mikado, on until January 3rd. Go! Go now!!!

*****

Charing Cross Theatre

http://www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/show/2/The+Mikado+

The Arches Villiers Street London WC2N 6NL Box Office: 08444 930 650