Tag Archives: Richard Russell Edwards

“The Mikado” at Wilton’s Music Hall

Fans of genius director Sasha Regan (there’s a clue there about how I feel) will be thrilled that her 2017 version of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta is back. This show is as smart and witty as it is charming and tender. If you haven’t seen one of her all-male productions yet, they really are a fantastic night out.

With The Mikado, Regan has changed a little more than usual. There are lots of very good new lyrics, as the original Japanese setting has been abandoned. Instead, a group of youngsters on a camping trip – putting on a show – decide on an “undefined” location for their fictional romps. Don’t worry, it’s still the same topsy-turvy world where sweethearts Declan Egan’s Nanki-Poo, renamed Bertie Hugh, and Sam Kipling’s Yum-Yum, now Miss Violet Plum, are threatened by all manner of dotty laws.

As for the telling of the silly story, the troop of boys say they are trying their best, using their imagination… how sweet! Those taking female roles roll up their shorts and grab some flowers for their hair, there are cricket bats and tennis rackets and a lot of fun with a tent that moves around the stage.

The make-do-and-mend aesthetic belies designer Ryan Dawson Laight’s clever work, which raises smiles and is full of invention. The cut-out forest background – cue shadowy figures running around – and skilful lighting all add to a dreamy summer night feel.

The-Mikado-Christopher-Hewitt-Photo-Mark-Senior
Christopher Hewitt

There’s so much detail, and so much of it leads to laughs. Lewis Kennedy’s Geordie Mikado and David McKechnie’s Harold Steptoe-inspired Mr Cocoa are accomplished performers who are a delight to watch closely. Christopher Hewitt has a brilliant turn as Kitty Shaw (formerly Katisha) complete with a bicycle. As for getting Hewitt to sing while pumping a deflated wheel… what a great idea!

It’s all hugely entertaining. But Regan wants to make sure heart strings are still pulled in the way Gilbert and Sullivan intended. Maybe that’s one reason Hewitt is such a highlight – hilarious but leaving room for us to have sympathy for Kitty. The show is, magically, romantic through the superb work of musical director and pianist Anto Buckley who, along with Egan and Kipling, makes the show sound swoon worthy.

Regan knows Gilbert and Sullivan so well and respects each and all of their creations, so no character is ignored. Note how Owen Clayton and Richard Russell Edwards stand out as Violet’s friends. Rivals at any opportunity, both are very funny and magnetic whenever they are on stage. Regan creates a kind of generosity that her cast responds to appropriately so that an infectious atmosphere of enjoyment radiates from the stage. These are happy campers – on stage – and in the audience.

Until 1 July 2023

www.wiltons.org.uk

Photos by Mark Senior

“H.M.S.Pinafore” at the Union Theatre

Given their success on London’s fringe theatre scene, Sasha Regan’s all male productions of Gilbert and Sullivan are much anticipated. Her latest, H.M.S. Pinafore, would seem a natural selection from the Victorian composer and lyricist’s opus – a story full of camp potential, with plenty of sailors and satire. The production lives up to expectations and also surprises.

Not content to rest on her reputation, Regan adds a sense of melancholy to the usual wit and fun. The cast are deliberately presented as though improvising, and so the production opens up some interesting questions: are we here to watch ‘real’ sailors aboard a ship, prisoners of war trying to alleviate boredom, or possibly children at a boarding school? It’s a brilliantly original twist that will win your heart.

Rough and ready staging becomes a powerful tool. So much is achieved with just ropes and kit boxes. The design from Ryan Dawson-Laight, full of inspired touches, including shirt collars used as millinery, contributes to making this show immediate and involving – bunk beds have never been this much fun. And that’s saying something.

From the heroic sailor Ralph, an appropriately dashing Tom Senior, fighting for his love to his Captain’s daughter Josephine, played by Bex Roberts (a  male  actor, to clarify), the cast sound fantastic. As her father the Captain, Benjamin Vivian-Jones is magnificent, bringing out the laughs and in fine voice. Ciarán O’Driscoll renders buttercup, the “plump and pleasing person” who is the key to the ‘topsy-turvy’ story, both loveable and formidable. Accounting for the highest and the lowest in this magnificent class comedy, Lee Van Geleen impresses with his fantastically powerful voice as the dastardly Dick Deadeye and David McKenchnie gives a superb comic performance as The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B.

The inventive staging by Regan, along with fantastic choreography from Lizzi Gee, is a constant delight. The ensemble show their talent, morphing from exercising studs into the gaggle of “sisters, cousins and aunts” that accompany the Rt.Hon, for comic touches a plenty. Special note has to be given to be given to Richard Russell Edwards as Hebe, who can swoon with the best of them. And finally, underpinning all this is the musical adaptation from Michael England and Chris Mundy, extracting the spirit of the score with an intelligent transformation accommodating all male voices.

Even if you’re a G&S fan of a more traditional persuasion, you’re still going to love Regan’s work. There is a reverence here in the best sense of the word – a genuine enthusiasm and love of the piece that is infectious. This is one of the best shows I’ve seen this year and although it’s only November, and there are plenty of exciting things coming up, I doubt it will be bettered in 2013.

Until 30 November 2013

www.uniontheatre.biz

Written 4 November 2013 for The London Magazine