This was the first time I had been to the rather plush Greenwood Theatre. The production was like the proverbial curate's egg, good in places. Good features were the costumes and scenery which were very fresh and colourful, though some of the men, particularly Pooh-Bah, did not know how to wear oriental costumes elegantly, though he (Pooh-Bah) was not helped by the fact that his costume was much too short. Philip Lee conducted the orchestra with the same youthful exuberance that I had heard from him in Pinafore. The orchestra (uncredited in the programme) were on the whole, good, though they let the conductor down in a couple of places, and the dull thudding noise from the timpanist was rather humorous. Just before the final section of the overture, Lee put in a complete pause, starting off the tune "Ye torrents roar" slowly and doing an accelerando and crescendo - which was an excellent idea, unfortunately the expected climax on "we do not heed" did not happen, because the orchestra couldn't muster the necessary volume - but perhaps they were hampered by the rather soft "cosy" acoustic of the theatre. Singing-wise, all the honours must go to the chorus who produced a superb sound, particularly in the Act 1 finale. Richard Rayment was a staid, elderly Nanki-Poo with a tremolo, Ann Pooley a nondescript Yum-Yum who had already reached her years of discretion, Christopher Roberts a thoroughly dull, dreary Ko-Ko, who spoke his songs in tune and went through a series of totally meaningless gestures. David Wilson was quite wrong for Pish-Tush, which was not only too low for him but lay right on his vocal break, so that he was having to use perpetual and obvious gear-changes à la Clara Butt. I hope the casting committee will use a bit more intelligence in future, as they could ruin his voice. Nicholas Clough as Pooh-Bah was more right than anyone else but even he had a lack of sparkle. His timing, though good, was of the sort of meticulously rehearsed correctness which had dullness. It did not strike me as due to genuine inspiration. Derek Collins' production was ultra-trad, and excessively dull, though this was not helped by the fact that most of the principals did what they did with the air of "we're doing it like this, because this is the way the producer told us to do it". I didn't stay for Act 2. MICHAEL WALTERS

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