THE MIKADO. To 12 February.

London

THE MIKADO
by W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

Orange Tree Theatre To 12 February 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 4pm & 6,13,20,27 Jan 2.30pm (+ discussion) no performance 3 Jan
Runs 2hr 35min One interval

TICKETS: 020 8940 3633
www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 31 December

A delightful, imaginative fun show.At first sight little links an imperial Japanese court with what is to all appearances an English amateur cricket match. Justification for Chris Monks' setting first appears in the opening chorus reference to court etiquette, there being as much ritual and precedence, precise if unspoken, to the average amateur cricket match as in any court.

And Gilbert's targets are entirely English. Monks (who should be credited as adapter) picks up the English inspired amateurism that appoints the next prisoner to be executed as Executioner (he'd have to decapitate himself before anyone else) and follows Gilbert's comic exploitation of the compromises and adaptability that muddle through English life.

Julian Forsyth's bluffly bland Mikado cheerfully admits that someday he'll need to fix a law that's about to have three people executed. Alan McMahon's impassive Lord High Executioner makes the most of his limited ideas through his authoritative Scottish accent (his mournful Tit Willow with its dicky bird acquiring a couple of extra references from the setting), while Paul Bentall's Lord High Everything Else has deliciously self-confident tones covering his financial rapacity.

But for action, look to the women. Even Mikado's son Nanki-Poo, disguised as a wandering minstrel (here, tennis racquet-toting Aussie rhythm guitarist) takes back seat when the women's hockey team of three little maids released from school turn up. No male organ is safe, ladette-in-chief being Ko Ko's intended and Nanki-Poo's love Yum-Yum - Sophie Ragavelas in a superbly detailed, punchy performance. Her voice is attractive if thin and stretched in the high register.

Her rival for Nanki-Poo is the older, Katisha, whose attractiveness is confined to a shoulder and an elbow. A black-leathered biker with grille-like cricket-pads, Carol Noakes comes into her own challenging Titipu in the first act finale. With Sullivan's music at its most dramatically Verdian, her high notes secure and the lower register thrillingly characterful, Noakes takes on the township vocally, knocks them for six and bowls the audience over.

The other highlights are the chorus numbers, imaginatively enacted with cricket equipment, climaxing in the near-execution of three local dignitaries. But it's fun from start to finish.

The Mikado of Japan: Julian Forsyth
Nanki-Poo: James Millard
Ko-Ko: Alan McMahon
Pooh-Bah: Paul Bentall
Pish-Tush: Kieran Buckeridge
Team Captain: Robert Curbishley
Yum-Yum: Sophia Ragavelas
Pitty-Sing: Sarah Manton
Peep-Bo: Victoria Nalder
Katisha: Carol Noakes
Mrs Pooh-Ba: Lana Green

Director: Chris Monks
Designer: Sam Dowson
Lighting: Daniella Beattie
Musical Director: Richard Atkinson
Musical arrangements: Tim Sutton
Assistant directors: Phoebe Barran, James Kyle Wilson

2005-01-02 22:00:43