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 The Theatreguide.London Review

The Mikado
Charing Cross Theatre   Winter 2014-2015

A thoroughly delightful bauble, this sprightly production will entertain those looking for some light festive season fun blissfully free of any hint of soppy Christmas sentiment. 

Director Thom Southerland and his talented cast treat Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta with all the respect it deserves – and not a smidge more. 

That means, first of all, that the glories of Sullivan's music are given free reign, from popsy patter songs to lovely ballads. The cast of largely operatically trained singers not only hit all the right notes, but in the right order, and (far too unusual for these days) have no difficulty projecting their voices over two unobtrusive pianos, so that one of the pleasures of this show is listening to the unamplified human voice. 

What's more – and equally as rare these days – they all sing with perfect diction, so the wit and poetry of Gilbert's lyrics are never muddied. 

But that is, quite properly, the limit of the production's reverence. Director Southerland knows that The Mikado is strong enough to survive and even flourish under a certain amount of messing about, and mess about he does, with great comic imagination. 

The setting is shifted from Gilbert's imaginary Japan to the Japanoiserie department of an Art Deco department store, with Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush as floorwalkers, the three little maids as flappers, and the whole thing having an irreverent Jazz Age flair. 

Meanwhile, more modern topical references abound, Ko-Ko's Little List and the Mikado's Object All Sublime rewritten to include audience-delighting damnations of tweeters, texters, the TOWIE cast, UKIP, Chelsea tractors, and whatever politician has made a fool of himself in this morning's newspaper. 

Choreographer Joey McKneely fills the small stage with movement that never looks cramped, while throwing in the occasional incongruous but perfectly-in-the-spirit-of-the-thing surprise like a touch of Charleston for the three little maids or a hint of Texas hoedown in Here's A How-De-Do. 

Hugh Osborne carries much of the show as a Ko-Ko who, far from being a fool, seems like the sanest man around trying to keep up with the silliness around him. Steve Watts is satisfyingly pompous as Pooh-Bah and Jacob Chapman inventively fey as Pish-Tush. 

Leigh Coggins plays Yum-Yum as a beautifully singing Kewpie doll with a bit of Betty Boop to her, while Matthew Crowe's Nanki-Poo has the genial air of a student enjoying an irresponsible gap year, and Rebecca Caine, looking far too young and attractive for the role, makes Katisha more cougar than gorgon, finding fresh laughs and unexpected sympathy in the character.

Gerald Berkowitz

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Review - The Mikado - Charing Cross Theatre 2014


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