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Gabrielle Brown April 25, 2007

Oxford Playhouse, 25-28 April 2007

‘Hot Mikado’ is set in 1930s Japan; a Japan where accents are American and the population repeatedly forgets that they are Japanese. It is a 1980s revival of a 1930s adaptation of the 19th-century Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, ‘The Mikado’…and thankfully it is a show where detail, fact and accuracy are completely irrelevant. ‘Hot Mikado’ as performed by Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre is real sumptuous fun.

Against such an implausible setting, ‘Hot Mikado’ allows for all aspects of the production to be exaggerated, rough and playful – anything goes. There were, for example, performers who pulled off polished routines (the male lead paying the character of Ko-Ko was captivatingly camp) and conversely less confident cast members whose understated dance routines contributed a further dimension to the performance. Similarly, there were moments where physical comedy, wit and timing were expertly synchronized to deliver a scene of sheer professionalism while there were also occasions where lines were stumbled upon and voices squeaked. Interestingly, these contrasts are representative of a very Japanese concept – Japan is known as the ‘land of opposites’ where extremes live side-by-side.

The costumes again toyed with the idea of representing historical accuracy and then actually put forward something a whole lot more amusing. The men were dressed in overstated 1930s-style suits including some tasty 30s-meets-80s fluorescent yellow and green numbers. Accessories were skilfully incorporated into routines and became integral to the characters’ identities – the clumsy Pooh-Bah seemed have a difficult relationship with his spectacles whereby they jumped about the stage uncontrollably – expertly manoeuvred by the actor. The ladies were treated to silky kimonos and brightly coloured leggings: traditional Japanese dress meets Primark.

The live orchestra performed jazz, swing and blues numbers with energy and the show maintained its momentum throughout. The dancing was again a cheerful blend of talented artists with less-skilled but always enthusiastic participants. The choreography was shrewdly designed to allow those with ability to subtlety stand out while those with no training could have a good old boogie; the cast really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It’s not often one gets to go to the theatre and experience such an unpretentious, lively and varied performance. It certainly wasn’t a polished production but the imperfections highlighted moments of genuine unprocessed talent.

The production of The Hot Mikado you'll find playing this week at Oxford's Playhouse Theatre is the result of some one hundred and twenty odd years of reappropriation and constant elaboration. It began with Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta, one of the wittiest and best loved examples of their D'Oyly Cart candies.By the end of the 1930s, it had been absolutely overhauled not once but twice, as The Swing Mikado and the familiarly titled The Hot Mikado, both of which gave swinged-up versions of the story to all black American casts. While no sheet music or script pages have survived from either production, the few surviving pictures, reviews and oral history would suggest that both shows were greatly successful in transplanting Sullivan's romantic satire to a whole new context.

It was in the 80s that this Hot Mikado surfaced, adapted by David H. Bell and Rob Bowman. They took the the original Mikado, the idea of hitting it with the swinging stick and the title, but there was nothing else to take, so all of the arrangements and libretto adaptations were fresh. This version placed the events in a Cotton Club, keeping the cultural transpositions still relatively easy to track but rich with interesting juxtapositions.They also created a new character to faciliitate some structural shifting.

When this show was revived in the 90s, it came to the UK and this is where Craig Revel Horwood, director of the current production, saw and fell in love with the show. It was a decade later that he mounted his own version for the Watermill theatre, relocating the story to an unexplained but clearly Nipponese neverland people with people of many races and nationalities though generally given American accents. The story had been ripped free of any concrete context of any value, suddenly, and would have to stand as something universal to make any sense at all. Even that revamp wasn't the end of the twisting and turning however, because three years later, the show has now come to Oxford with a raft of new jokes and references.

I'm left a little confused as to what this current, dense collage of influences, styles and aesthetics actually means. What's really being expected of us when we are asked to recognise a little flash of Kill Bill or even the inevitable Strictly Come Dancing wink (though, tastefully, only the one)? Overall, the feeling is surprisingly close to that of a pantomime, particularly when the cast interact with the audience or bend some lyrics out of shape for a topical reference.

The show is kept on track by Sullivan's zig-zag storyline, abundant lyrical wit and twisting paradoxes of parody. The multi-tasking cast of actor-musicians impress, a tight little corps of Jacks and Jills of all trades, tap dancing, playing instruments, singing, dancing and - broadly speaking - acting. I do wish, however, they had been better at hiding their boredom when sitting to the side of stage or, tragically, during the curtain call at the end. Man of the match was probably The Mikado him... er.. herself, as played by Melanie Marshall, and Jeffrey Harmer made for a fair-enough Anthony Stuart Head sub.

It's safe to say that a good time was had by all, but there must have been more of us than just me left scratching their head a little when all was said and done. All that discipline in the co-ordination and staging of the acting/music transitions, but none in the design or stylistics?

Brendon Connelly 14 Oct 2009

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