It's been a hell of a year for great shows - and Saturday's trip to see the latest in a series of Sacha Regan's all-male Gilbert & Sullivan operettas at Wilton's Music Hall, The Pirates of Penzance (or, The Slave of Duty) was an absolute triumph!

My sister and I had, of course, planned it as a treat for our Mother's 89th birthday and - thankfully - she loved it.

What's not to love, really, when the innate campery of this G&S proto-pantomime is enhanced by the fact that all parts - be they "butch" pirates [led by the very lovely Tom Newland as "Pirate King"], comedic policemen or pretty maidens - are portrayed completely in character by a troupe of cute young men? This is not drag; the audience is invited to suspend disbelief and - with some near-perfect operatic voices on show, not least the falsetto/soprano of Luke Garner-Greene as "Mabel" - it all-but succeeds.

The story? Typically improbable - the ENO handily sums it up thus:

...so let’s get this straight: there are pirates, who take pity on orphans, and are really peers of the realm. There’s a 21-year-old called Frederic, who has sworn to put the pirates behind bars, and is really only 5. And there are policemen, whose lot is not a happy one, and are really, really hopeless at foiling felons... Got that?

Confused? You will be. Basically, everyone's pretty inept, and it is around such characters all good farcical comedy revolves!

The Nurse "Ruth" [played with aplomb by Robert Wilkes], being a bit deaf, mistook "apprenticeship as a pilot" with "pirate", and that's how the poor lad got there in the first place:

Frederic [played by chisel-jawed Cameron McAllister] is a bit of a wuss, and after finding out that not all women look like Ruth, goes and falls for the first girl he sees (or rather she, alone among her sisters, allows him to woo her):

The Major-General [the girls' father, played to perfection by David McKechnie] is good at everything... except his job as head of an army:

[Lyrics here if you want to sing along]

...and as for the policemen [who, led by Lewis Kennedy, at Wilton's all had false moustaches on sticks and the most comical choreography], well, the Pirate King had them quaking in their boots!

Farce and campness abounds! Frederic's belief that he owed no further duty to the pirates - and would therefore become their foe - comes unstuck when Nurse reveals that he was born in a leap year on 29 February, therefore his 21st birthday (at which his indenture to them would end) is not technically due until 1940.

The Major-General's pretence at being an orphan, and therefore not a target for the pirates, comes unstuck - and they mount a raid (much to the dismay of the policemen) on his house and his daughters. Suddenly, at the point of a sword, the Major-General swears an oath to Queen Victoria, the pirates all bow to their knee, and their real-life noble birth is revealed. They all go off to Westminster, the daughters as brides, Frederic is free to wed Mabel, and they all live happily every after.

Whew.

Brilliant comedy, brilliant players, superb choreography - it was a tremendous production all round! We agreed, this was one of those shows we'd cheerfully go and see again.

Unfortunately Pirates of Penzance is only at Wilton's Music Hall until Sunday 23rd November 2024, before it's off continuing its tour of the country. Catch it if you can!

[All photos: Mark Senior]

We had another little "gathering of the clans" last night, for the latest production by Sacha Regan, the all-male Mikado at the fantabulosa Wilton's Music Hall.

We thoroughly enjoyed last year's production HMS Pinafore, and so there was a huge buzz of anticipation of what was in store. We certainly were not disappointed!

Let's hear the views of the reviewers, which echo my own...

Theatre Weekly:

This particular Gilbert and Sullivan classic has become problematic for anyone wanting to revive it, Sasha Regan swerves all of this by setting it in England and thus satirising the establishment even more blatantly than the original did with its heavy Oriental styles.

There’s a lone tent on stage with a backdrop of trees, and we find ourselves in the midst of a boys camping trip – a private school or Scout troupe perhaps. Some neat changes to the opening number, If you want to know who we are helps set the scene. As night falls the dressing up box comes out and the familiar tale begins to unfold.

We’re still in a city called Titipu, but any reference to geography is removed and the names of the characters are anglicised; the lowly tailor elevated to Lord High Executioner [Ko-Ko] becomes Mr Cocoa, the wandering minstrel with royal roots [Nanki-Poo] becomes Bertie Hugh and the man taking on every office of state [Pooh-Bah] is now Albert Barr.

Everything Theatre:

Camp indeed it is, and exploding with fun! Gorgeously exaggerated characterisation and Ryan Dawson Laight’s fastidious design work fit superbly alongside the Music Hall’s historic splendour. Every detail of costume, every prop, is linked thematically and humorously, with costumes made from picnic blankets or enamel dishes, and tents moving around left right and centre, providing opportunity for some marvellous hilarity and slapstick. The action is inventively arrayed across multiple levels, making best use of this unique venue, and it’s all sparklingly delightful.

Gay Times:

... we are introduced to Bertie Hugh (Declan Egan)... who falls for Miss Violet Plumb [Yum-Yum] (Sam Kipling). Alas, both are engaged to wed others [he, by a mistake of etiquette, to Miss Kitty Shaw, and she to Mr Cocoa] – over the ensuing two hours we watch their stories unfold to see if they can attain their happily ever after. As we’ve come to expect from Sasha Regan’s all-male company, it’s a high-camp, comedic affair, but not tastelessly so. The entire show is played as if these were school children acting out their roles; there’s a warm and easy camaraderie between these actors which is a joy to watch.

Once-a-Week Theatre:

There’s so much detail, and so much of it leads to laughs. Lewis Kennedy’s Geordie Mikado [The King} 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 [Katisha] complete with a bicycle. As for getting Hewitt to sing while pumping a deflated wheel… what a great idea!

Everything Theatre:

But all are in danger of being upstaged by the amazing Richard Russell Edwards as Hebe Flo [Peep-Bo] and Owen Clayton as Bluebell Tring [Pitti-Sing], who tirelessly and repeatedly create surprising, riotously funny moments. With Kipling, they are simply fabulous in Three Little Maids, and they should have a sequel just to themselves.

Theatre Weekly:

With all of the glorious singing happening on stage, it’s easy to forget that the cast are accompanied by a lone piano, played by musical director Anto Buckley, who succeeds in making it sound as though he were a full company of musicians.

These all-male productions certainly breathe new life into the originals, but this seems especially true with The Mikado, which is a clever, funny and downright enjoyable reinterpretation of an operetta that could easily have been consigned to the history books.

We were enthralled by the whole thing! The vocals, the interplay between the players, the sheer audacity of the reinterpretation of Gilbert and Sullivan's classic characters (and lyrics), the handsome cast, the campery - everything about this show was perfectly executed.

I'd go and see it again - and that's not an accolade I'd give to many shows!

Sasha Regan’s All-Male The Mikado is at Wilton's Music Hall until 1st July 2023. Book now!

Things are seldom what they seem,
Skim milk masquerades as cream;
Highlows pass as patent leathers;
Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers.

Very true,
So they do.

Black sheep dwell in every fold;
All that glitters is not gold;
Storks turn out to be but logs;
Bulls are but inflated frogs.

So they be,
Frequentlee.

Many a true word said in jest - as yesterday we took The Mother to the legendary Wilton's Music Hall yesterday for a matinee performance of the all-male cast version of HMS Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor.

From the opening macho below-decks scenes of hunky sailors trying to overcome their boredom through exercise and military discipline, we were (of course) hooked - but when those same sailors (with the merest of theatrical props, involving lifejackets, scarves and paper headresses) transformed along with the plot to portray the entourage of "sisters and cousins and aunts" who board the ship with the First Lord of the Admiralty, the fun really began! And we loved it.

The review by Stefan Kyriazis in The Express said it all:

What utter, complete bliss. I could not stop smiling from start to finish. Sasha Regan's inspired direction and the fabulously talented cast bring vital, visceral life to Gilbert & Sullivan's romantic comedy and make the music more accessible and even more beautiful. I'd take this over any number of overblown and underpowered West End shows any day. It's an absolute joy.

Although the uber-camp concept of "Sweet Little Buttercup" being played by a strapping six-foot Scotsman [Scott Armstrong], the giggling, pirouetting company of "ladies" possessing - ahem - rather obvious male attributes, and the lovelorn teenage "Josephine" beautifully sung falsetto/soprano by a boy [the magnificent Sam Kipling] might well have invited thoughts of drag shows or panto, the fact that the entire cast [with the notable deliberate comic turn of Richard Russell Edwards' "Cousin Hebe"] played it completely - ahem - "straight" was a master-stroke that really engaged the audience in the satirical genius of WS Gilbert's convoluted plot, rather than make a mockery of it.

For satire it truly is. The plot is summed up quite neatly by Simon J Webb at "Jack the Lad" blog:

Originally conceived to shine a spotlight on the British obsession with social status, H.M.S. Pinafore tells the story of Josephine [Sam Kipling], the daughter of Captain Corcoran [Juan Jackson], who is in love with lower-class sailor Ralph Rackstraw, [Danny Becker]. Despite her father’s intentions for her to marry the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter [David McKechnie], all is not as it may seem, and through an unexpected twist of fate this already complicated situation finds itself turned on its head.

[all photographs: Mark Senior. Click to embiggen]

This was, remarkably, the first Gilbert & Sullivan production of any variety any of us had ever seen, yet it was surprising how many of the songs were familiar, including We Sail The Ocean Blue, Now Give Three Cheers ... I Am The Monarch Of The Sea, When I Was A Lad, Sorry Her Lot Who Loves Too Well, Never Mind The Why And Wherefore, the hilarious Carefully On Tiptoe Stealing [aka "It was the cat!"] and the rousing finale For He Is An Englishman!.

Full kudos must go to the entire cast; every one of them was brilliant in turn (although the contrast between "opera-trained" voices such as that of the hunky Mr Jackson, the masterful Mr McKechnie, Jazz Evans as "Dick Deadeye" and the sublime Mr Kipling and the more "West End" styling of Mr Becker was obvious). The staging, too, was impressive - who needs huge set-pieces and pyrotechnics when one can make full use of two bunk-beds, some rope and hand-torches (and the quirky Wiltons istelf) to make a statement?

Here, for your delectation, is a full-length behind-the-scenes feature on the production, with rehearsal footage and interviews with the cast and crew:

It was simply divine; I'd recommend it to anyone. And our Mother loved it, and that's what really matters!

The show continues at Wilton's Music Hall until 9th April 2022, so be quick!