The Mikado

The story

Jonathan Miller set his well-known production of The Mikado, staged for the English National Opera, in a British seaside resort of the 1920s. The result, complete with a chorus of gentlemen of Japan as cartoon-like British peers, emphatically underscores the Englishness of the satire. The occasional non sequiturs, like a bunch of gentry dressed for Ascot and singing in Japanese, are loonily fun, and no more absurd than the fantasyland Japan that Gilbert and Sullivan invented. The time frame, though, seems little more than an excuse for a smart black-and-white production design.

Cast & crew

Eric IdleKo-Ko

Lesley GarrettYum-Yum

Bonaventura Bottone

Bonaventura BottoneNanki-Poo

Richard van Allen

Richard van AllenPooh-Bah

Felicity PalmerKatisha

Richard Angas

Richard AngasThe Mikado of Japan

Susan Bullock

Susan BullockPeep-Bo

Ethna Robinson

Ethna RobinsonPitti-Sing

Mark Richardson

Mark RichardsonPish-Tush