Marvellous Mikado Nails it at the Tabard

'Hilarious, frivolous, yet quite ridiculous fiasco of great joy' says Susan Stanley-Carroll


Tilly Goodwin, JJ Lam and Millie Fryer Hornsby as Three Little Maids from School. Picture: Matt Hunter

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May 2, 2025

Magical, memorable, marvellous a Mikado, based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s score and script is now in full throttle at the Theatre at the Tabard. It is one of the finest musical shows I have ever seen in Chiswick’s studio theatre.

A boisterous production that bounces, yet, has moment of beauty and poignancy. Keith Strachan’s direction combined with Annemarie Lewis Thomas musical direction is flawless. They steered their talented diverse cast (ages and experiences] into a unit that sings magnificently responding to the innovative choreography with precision. A production of calibre: a Mikado worthy of 5 stars - nay five golden stars.

The script and score, written by Gilbert & Sullivan 140 years ago, has been, once again, brilliantly refreshed. The plot remains dotty and the names of the characters absurd, but once the music and the voices roll with such conviction, and, the audience suspends its disbelief the whole plot becomes an hilarious, frivolous, quite ridiculous fiasco of great joy.

ChiswickW4.com reviewed it in 2013 and Penny Flood commented the plot was ‘daft. And so be it! It is daft.

The plot in a nutshell: Nanki-Poo, disguised as a wandering minstrel is in love with Yum-Yum. She is committed to Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner. Randomly, the Mikado demands an execution because it has been many moons since the last beheading. Nanki-Poo volunteers to have his head chopped so that Ko-Ko can marry Yum-Yum. Of course, the plan is blown into smithereens when the Mikado arrives: he threatens them all.

There are 28 songs and all delivered with panache. Fed Zanni (Ko Ko) punches out, with sparkling glee, the famous ‘I Have a Little List’, wittily refreshed, however, his rendering of ‘On a Tree by a River’ creates a moment of delicious poignancy. It is followed by Katisha (Sophie Juge) and Ko Ko singing exquisitely together the duet, “There is Beauty in The Bellow of the Blast).

Nicholas Curry - is a tender Nanki Poo and play his ‘part’ with oodles of ‘heart’! Tilly Goodwin, very much an ingenue (she graduates this summer) is a deliciously sweet and charming Yum Yum… JJLam, mischievous as Pitti Sing, has a glorious, resonant voice. Millie Fryer-Hornsby (Peep Bo) and Erica Flint (Flautist) add a touch of ‘je ne sais quo’ to every moment of this very fine production.

However, the linchpins of the show are John Griffiths (Mikado/Pish Tush) and Martin George (Pooh Bah). Griffiths powerful rendering of ‘A More Humane Mikado Never Did in Japan Exist’ is a true treat. While George’s ‘treacly-charcoal’ voice is mesmerising along with the roll call of V.I.P characters he plays with gusto and great aplomb.

Elisa Podesta’s costume designs are a delightful medley of colour and are beautifully crafted, what is more, the footwear is perfect e.g. Nanki Poo’s shoes need a good polish whereas Pooh Bah’s have a high shine!

Both the set and lighting add an extraordinary amount of space to the studio’s small stage thanks to Rob Miles, Pat McMahon and Sandra Szaron.

Cast members of The Mikado at The Tabard Theatre
Cast members of The Mikado at The Tabard Theatre. Picture: Matt Hunter

It is a ‘no brainer’ not to see this riveting, outstanding West London musical - bearing in mind that the seats are priced at a fraction of the price of tickets in London’s West End and yet the standard of the Keith Strachan’s direction and the stamina of the actors is of the very highest calibre.

Susan Stanley-Carroll

Book tickets for The Mikado here

Coming Up at The Tabard

Theatre at the Tabard is at 2 Bath Road, Chiswick (W4 1LW).

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