BWW Reviews: THE MIKADO - Pure Joy at The Kings Head Theatre

After having enormous fun with HMS Pinafore at the Kings Head, the Charles Court Opera are back with The Mikado (until November 29) in which the sheer joy that the cast take in the performance washes out over an audience delighted to be making acquaintance again with an old friend. Or not, since The Mikado may be one of the most performed operas in British history, but I can't have been alone in seeing it for the first time and wallowing in its wit, its foolishness and, bubbling just under the surface, its biting satire.

In Titipu Japan, Ko-Ko has been elevated from lowly tailor to Lord High Executioner as a means of blocking the queue of citizens condemned to the gallows for the heinous crime of flirting. Enter Nanki-poo, The Mikado's only son, disguised as a Second Trombone on the run from the unwanted attentions of the ambitious and overbearing courtier Katisha and determined to marry his true love, Ko-Ko's ward and betrothed, Yum-Yum. But wait - here's The Mikado in town and demanding an execution. What is Ko-Ko to do? Can he rely on the multi-talented, extremely well-bred Pooh-bah and his sidekick Pish-tush to (literally) save his skin?

If that all sounds outrageously silly, it's because it is outrageously silly, but the story fulfils its three main functions perfectly. Firstly, it gets us to those wonderful Gilbert and Sullivan songs, so clever in melody and lyrics and beautifully played by the Eaton-Young Piano Duo. Secondly, the names may be drawn from kiddie-talk, but we care about Nanki-poo and Yum-Yum, about Ko-Ko's head and even pull for Pooh-bah to come through in the end (and, of course, they all do - somehow). Thirdly, in 2011, satirising arbitrary authority, political graft and the transformation of ordinary men and women into martinets once given a sniff of power, does not need to be smuggled under the radar by setting the tale in Japan, but pricking pomposity is required just as much now as it was in 1885 when the opera was first played..

Led by director John Savournin (a very funny Pooh-bah), the cast dance and clown about, but never lose sight of their first obligation to give full value to the songs through their singing - which they do, wonderfully well. Philip Lee (Ko-Ko) has something of Peter Sellars about him and his duet with Rosie Strobel (Katisha) who has something of Katie Price about her, is a real highlight. And a much needed highlight, as the late arrival of Simon Masterton-Smith (The Mikado) had threatened to steal the show!

London's Little Opera House aims to bring one of art's most intimidating formats to the masses by making it accessible without compromising its integrity. The Mikado fulfils that brief to the letter and, if you've never seen an opera before, start with this one - if there's a seat to be had in the house!  

 

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