SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

 

Cast:

Simon Masterson-Smith ... The Mikado

Nick Sales ... Nanki-Poo

Fenton Gray/Simon Butteriss ... Ko-Ko

Bruce Graham ... Pooh-Bah

Rebecca Knight ... Yum-Yum

Jill Pert ... Katisha

Mark Evans ... Pish-Tush

Abigail Iveson ... Pitti-Sing

Nicola Stonehouse ... Peep-Bo

National Festival Orchestra/Richard Balcombe

Directed by Alan Spencer

The Mikado is the second of this year’s three professional Gilbert and Sullivan productions playing at the annual International Festival in Buxton and as might be expected with such a popular opera, it played to packed houses on Friday and Saturday, including a Saturday matinee.

 

The plot of Act I pivots around the interaction between a strolling player, Nanki Poo, his love for Yum Yum and her guardian, Ko Ko, (a cheap tailor whose suit is hopeless). The main parts are played by G and S savvy singers most of whom are well known to Buxton audiences. Comedians, Fenton Gray and Simon Buttress, provide energetic portrayals of Ko Ko, who has been awarded the thankless job of town executioner. Their clear diction ensured nothing was lost in the delivery of witty and amusing lines in ‘I’ve got a little list’ in which ‘Cameron’ and ‘Clegg’ come in for comment as do ‘the Blackberry and iPhone, all made in Japan!’ And in a reference to the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, ‘the berk who poured oil on troubled waters, that really did not work’.

 

Bruce Graham’s droll Lord High Everything-Else (Pooh-Bah) projected that air of tedium and dry discourse so necessary for the stubborn stooge that Gilbert invents to carry across good humour. His strong singing did much to lift the part. The Act II banter between Ko Ko, Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah in their encounter with the Mikado, to justify the mock execution of Nanki-Poo was one of the comedy highlights in Alan Spencer’s slick production. Katisha’s sour face never relaxed during the Titipu town’s audience. The liberties taken by Ko-Ko’s familiarity with the Mikado and by Pitti Sing when she sits on his knee (much to Katisha’s clear disgust) were memorable. The timing throughout was impeccable, and this helped provide even more amusement for a delighted audience.

 

The lemon-sour Katisha, played by Festival stalwart Jill Pert, delivered the power so necessary in the Act I finale. This contrasted perfectly with the childlike qualities she displayed when wooed by Ko-Ko in Act II. The delicately pretty Yum-Yum (Rebecca Knight) and wards were delightfully costumed and shone in their rendition of ‘Three little maids’. Her sparkling delivery of ‘The sun whose rays are all ablaze’ provided a strong focus to the start of Act II. Nicholas Sales, a strong tenor, gave good support to Yum Yum as Nanki Poo and gave strong leadership in the lovely madrigal, ‘Brightly dawns our wedding day’. A ‘second trombone’ player he might be, but he delivered first class singing and strong presence throughout. Pish-Tush, who tells us Ko-Ko’s story, delivered with clear diction and tonal accuracy. The strong chorus was superbly dressed, sang well and completed an authentic Japanese picture, while excelling in slick stage routines and movement detail.

 

The music of The Mikado is some of Sullivan’s best and was regarded so by Dame Ethyl Smyth when she met him after a performance of ‘Ivanhoe’. In this performance, Buxton’s festival orchestra, with Richard Balcombe conducting, played excellently throughout and brought out all the nuances of Sullivan’s score we have come to cherish. However, more attention to dynamic changes could have helped after the introduction to a number to prevent singers from being swamped during a verse’s accompaniment.

 

With the orient in mind, a minimalist set was employed, giving the opportunity for entrances to have good visual impact. Changes in the mood of the lighting gave us the blossom not the knot weed of Japanese variety, so often neglected in modern stage presentations. Projected images of Sun and Moon during ‘The sun whose rays are all ablaze’ worked well as did the silhouetted bamboo shoots. These effects were underplayed and were all the better for it.

 

 

A further performance on August 15th of The Mikado provides an extra opportunity to see this eighth in the series of Savoy Operas

 

Raymond J Walker

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