The Mikado

This is a show to love or loathe. There is a remarkable amount of comedy in this production, sometimes at the expense of the original material. G&S traditionalists will not be happy.

The all-male cast set up the scene of a scout camp, somewhere unspecified, in the action under the overture. It also sets the tone of camp and silly visual humour. Modified lyrics to the opening song try to explain how or why the scouts are performing the Mikado, but the reasoning passed me by. Once they got on with it, that justification was irrelevant – it’s just fun.

Anto Buckley has a hard task on solo piano providing all the musical backing to the show. A couple more musicians would have added much more depth. I also wished for a powerful bass voice to contrast with the falsetto. The boys playing girls get most of the notes, though there is a lot of distraction during the female chorus songs which takes our attention away from the singing and the fact that Gilbert didn’t give his women many funny lyrics. Apart from Kitty Shaw. Christopher Hewitt commands the show as this daughter-in-law elect and her every move and utterance increases the glee of the show. She is ably matched by David McKechnie as Mr Cocoa. He indulges the audience in cheeky, knowing collusion. They are expert at working their material to get optimum comic results.

Lewis Kennedy gives a novel version of the Mikado, and Declan Egan and Sam Kipling offer a delightful couple of young lovers. Their not flirting (honest) in “This is what I’ll never do” was enchanting.

There is effective, simple staging with a tent and a few boxes, and humorous scouting outfits which are deftly adjusted to emphasise who are the girls and when.

It took a while for me to adjust to this interpretation of The Mikado, but the invention and wit with which the director Sasha Regan has imbued the show won me over. It’s different, but most importantly, it’s very funny!

Derek Benfield