The McAdo

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – The McAdo

Playwright/s/Composer/s – Gilbert and Sullivan Austin adapted text from The Mikado by W. S. Gilbert with music from Arthur Sullivan’s original score.

Production Company/Theatre space – (community) Morpheus Theatre, Victor Mitchell Theatre, Pumphouse.

Length – 2 ACTS (3 hours, one intermission.)

Genre– Comic Operetta.

Premise – A prince posing as a musician has to find a way to evade an ill-suited suitor, decapitation and wed the girl who is expected to marry her guardian.

Why this play? Why now? – It’s always fantastic to see well written adaptations of classics. Morpheus has cornered the audience market for G & S lovers in Calgary.

Curiosities – I was curious to see if the Scottish version works – and it totally does! The lead actor is a competitive parkour coach, and I wondered if we would see this special skill set, but sadly, we didn’t.

Notable Moment – I’m a big fan of G & S patter songs.

Notable writing – The adaptation is a fine one. The new country and culture are better than the original in some ways because audience sensibilities are different now. Having the story set in Scotland eschews the racism that creeps into the original piece. The ick factor of a young woman being pressured to marry her guardian is still there, however. The script was further modified with current political references to becoming the 51st state and C-Train jokes and while the audience laughed in recognition, I felt these interjections better fit a panto not an operetta set in Scotland.

Notable performances – Jared Atkin with his strong operatic voice plays the prince who is passing himself off as a traveling fiddle player. The prince’s love interest is Aly Carrigan. She is a strong singer as is Sarah Nearing. Gary Silberg is delightful to watch as he amalgamates several characters into one body. David Hume, despite dropping a few rhymes, carries a great deal of the show. Looking at the program all the faces are smiling and relaxed so why do some performers look so worried, they know the material.

Notable design/Production – Often simplicity is the best policy in set design and thankfully Janos Zeller forgoes unnecessary bits & pieces and set changes. I didn’t understand the tribal make up on the nobility, but it was undeniably theatrical. Costume Designer Christie Johnson’s kilts, plaids and sporrans were attractive.

Notable direction – Sean Anderson, in the director’s Mackintosh chair, gives us an efficient staging and along with Choreographer Daisy Pond delivers an entertaining show. We can quibble over my requests to have something to watch during the overture but when the action starts it is a solid show.

One reason to see this show – A successful adaptation of a classic.