Until Saturday

t is clear from the start that this production is pushing the boundaries of the already flexible conventions of Gilbert and Sullivan.

The overture is used to set the scene in the town of Titipu, and to establish a backstory to the central theme of romance between Nanki-Poo and Yum Yum.

G&S is, above all, satire and it is in the finest tradition to update the “little list” of Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner and the Mikado’s ‘Make the Punishment Fit the Crime’ with topical and local references.  These are splendidly revised with lots of pertinent local targets.

As always Bath Operatic and Dramatic Society produce some fine voices for the principal roles, sympathetically accompanied by the orchestra under the direction of Peter Blackwood.

Director Tristan Carter has chosen a slightly strange hybrid of Victorian England and Japan in costumes and mood. The set is beautifully Japanese with some imaginative lighting effects. Union Jacks and Nanki-Poo’s striped blazer and straw boater sit oddly in this setting.

I feel the use of iPads and reference to e-mail is also a tad over the top and some of the comic ‘business,’ while well executed, occasionally serves only to slow the action.

Niggles aside, it is a professional production with the excellent Oli Hounsell as the wandering minstrel Nanki-Poo, proficient in voice and acting skills. Richard Luscombe is a gently comical Ko-Ko who creates an effective double act with Nick Lee as Lord High Everything Else.

Rose Lee as Yum Yum has a stunning voice and Sophie Smith as Pitti-Sing, second of the three little maids demonstrates a good sense of comedy.
The demanding role of the fearsome Katisha falls to Juliette Coad who makes the most of it.