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.
Production
Black-and-white 1920s seaside aesthetic is *chef's kiss*
Acting
Eric Idle's Ko-Ko: pure Python energy meets Gilbert & Sullivan
Costume
Ascot meets kimono in the most unhinged way possible
Director
Peter Robinson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Miller's 1920s relocation wasn't random—it deliberately evoked England's own imperial anxieties while sidestepping yellowface controversies that plague traditional productions.
Eric Idle recorded his vocals separately due to scheduling conflicts, meaning most ensemble scenes involve impressive lip-sync acting.
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