Robert Tanitch reviews ENO’s The Pirates of Penzance at London Coliseum
Hopes were high that ENO might have an artistic and financial success to equal Jonathan Miller’s long-running production of The Mikado.
But Mike Leigh has never directed an opera before and this is the first time he admits he has directed a work other than his own since a disastrous production of Brecht’s Galileo in 1970.
His credentials for directing Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance is, presumably, Topsy Turvy, his 1999 film about the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan.
The production is a big disappointment, not a patch on Joseph Papp’s legendary production at Drury Lane in 1982 and inferior to Ian Talbot’s production in Regent’s Park in 2000 and Sasha Regan’s all-male version, which is touring the UK at this very moment.
Leigh’s staging lacks humour and invention. The singers don’t look as if they have been directed. The Pirate King and his apprentice have no charisma.
Ruth, the hero’s elderly nursery maid, is badly miscast and the policemen are the least funny I have ever seen. Andrew Shore as the Major-General does not attempt anything original. Claudia Boyle as Mabel comes out best.
Musically, the show doesn’t thrill and Alison Chitty’s set looks as if the ENO cannot afford a set.
The production desperately needs a witty choreographer. The chorus is moved round the stage in an amateurish manner which would not be acceptable in a West End musical.
Why has ENO never revived John Cox’s brilliant 1970 production of Patience?
To find out more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews visit his website.
