No 37 -- Summer 1991 Edited by Michael Walters
For this new production the Company has returned to the text of the opening night [Not quite. MPW], but "The Sun whose rays" remains in Act 2. It is good to hear "Were I not to Ko–Ko plighted" sung as a duet, although much of the restored dialogue in Act 2 is not as humorous as that which replaced it. Jessica Gwynne had the unenviable task of replacing Ricketts' 1926 costume designs with her own. Overall the visual effect is subdued with fawns, browns and greys predominating. The orchestra is again musically sound and vocally the production cannot be faulted although the chorus were not keeping their eye on the conductor for the beginning of "Miya Sama".
The opening scene is aurally and visually stunning. Hugh Hetherington (Nanki–Poo) is a master of comic timing, extracting humour from the character which one did not realise was there and at the same time refraining from going over the top. Pish–Tush (Gareth Jones) is Pooh–Bah's sidekick, prompting him and helping him out of tight corners. Pooh–Bah (Malcolm Rivers) is not the comic to which devotees have become accustomed, but a more serious, extremely agile figure. One misses his line "I wasn't there". Eric Roberts plays and sings Ko–Ko with a broad Lancastrian accent, reminding one of the comedian Bobby Ball. A third verse of his "list" song has been completely rewritten and Nanki–Poo now works for a Japanese car company in Wales. Yum–Yum is played as a humorous character by Vivian Tierney whose "The sun whose rays" is the highlight of the opera. Thora Ker is competent as Pitti–Sing, and though Fiona O'Neill plays Peep–Bo, her understudy, Yvonne Packer, plays the part to perfection, extracting a good deal of humour out of the line "It's quite true, you know, you are to be beheaded". All credit must go to Susan Gorton for making Katisha a tragic heroine rather than the harridan to which devotees have become accustomed. There is, thankfully, less clowning in Act 2 which is more serious, but not boring! Michael Ducarel portrays the Mikado with dignity; the laugh is now a series of chuckles. Paul Pyant's lighting designs serve to enhance a continuous series of stage pictures devied by director John Wells in Eileen Diss's stage sets. For at least one devotee this production has served to put Mikado at the top of the list of G&S favourites.
DAVID SKELLY
Web page created 12 September 1998