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The Mikado the Articles in This Study Guide Are Not Meant to Mirror Or Interpret Any Productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

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The Mikado the Articles in This Study Guide Are Not Meant to Mirror Or Interpret Any Productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival Insights A Study Guide to the Utah Shakespeare Festival The Mikado The articles in this study guide are not meant to mirror or interpret any productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. They are meant, instead, to be an educational jumping-off point to understanding and enjoying the plays (in any production at any theatre) a bit more thoroughly. Therefore the stories of the plays and the interpretative articles (and even characters, at times) may differ dramatically from what is ultimately produced on the Festival’s stages. Insights is published by the Utah Shakespeare Festival, 351 West Center Street; Cedar City, UT 84720. Bruce C. Lee, communications director and editor; Phil Hermansen, art director. Copyright © 2011, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Please feel free to download and print Insights, as long as you do not remove any identifying mark of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. For more information about Festival education programs: Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street Cedar City, Utah 84720 435-586-7880 www.bard.org. Cover photo: Erin Annarella (top), Carol Johnson, and Sarah Dammann in The Mikado, 1996 Contents Information on the Play Synopsis 4 CharactersThe Mikado 5 About the Playwright 6 Scholarly Articles on the Play Mere Pish-Posh 8 Utah Shakespeare Festival 3 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 Synopsis: The Mikado Nanki-Poo, the son of the royal mikado, arrives in Titipu disguised as a peasant and looking for Yum- Yum. Without telling the truth about who he is, Nanki-Poo explains that several months earlier he had fallen in love with Yum-Yum; however she was already betrothed to Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor, and he saw that his suit was hopeless. However, he has since learned that Ko-Ko has been condemned to death for flirting; and he has come to find Yum-Yum, his true love. Nanki-Poo’s high hopes are dashed once more when Pish-Tush, a noble lord, informs him that Ko-Ko was reprieved and raised to the rank of lord high executioner. Pooh-Bah, first lord of the treasury, lord chief justice, commander-in-chief, etc., enters next, and he also holds out no hope for Nanki-Poo. Then Ko-Ko himself enters, ready to execute “plenty of people whose loss will be a distinct gain to society at large.” Next enters Yum-Yum, who reluctantly allows Ko-Ko to kiss her, even though she doesn’t love him; however, she catches sight of Nanki-Poo and rushes over to him. Nanki-Poo, expecting an angry reaction from Ko-Ko, blurts out that he loves Yum-Yum. “Anger!” responds Ko-Ko. “Not a bit, my boy. Why, I love her myself.” The crowd departs, and Yum-Yum and Nanki-Poo are left alone. He confides to her that he is really the son of the mikado, but, ordered by his father to marry Katisha, an elderly lady of the court, he has fled. However, they realize the hopelessness of their situation--and, sadly, they part. Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, and Pish-Tush enter, bearing a letter from the mikado which complains that no exe- cutions have taken place in Titipu for a year and, unless somebody is beheaded within the month, Titipu will be reduced to a mere village. Nanki-Poo decides that his only option is to commit suicide, but Ko-Ko persuades Nanki Poo to let him behead him instead. To clinch the deal, Ko-Ko even agrees to let Nanki-Poo marry Yum-Yum, provid- ing he agrees to be executed in one month. As wedding preparations progress, Ko-Ko arrives with bad news: he has learned that the law dictates that when a man is beheaded, his wife must be buried alive. Yum-Yum, while not wishing to appear selfish, points out that this revelation does change things. In despair, Nanki-Poo pulls out a dagger and threatens to kill himself if Ko-Ko doesn’t agree to behead him now. However, Ko-Ko can’t; he can’t kill anything, not even a fly. Then, just before the mikado arrives, they come up with a solution: Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum will be married and will go into hiding, while everyone pretends that the execution has taken place. When the mikado and Katisha arrive, he is pleased that an execution has taken place, but admits that his real purpose in visiting is to find his son. Katisha spots the name on the execution certificate--Nanki- Poo!--and the mikado, while agreeing that a mistake has certainly been made, says that killing the royal heir involves a horrible death. Nanki-Poo surreptitiously suggests that Ko-Ko marry Katisha; that way Nanki-Poo can come back to life, no one will be killed, and Katisha will be off his back. Ko-Ko, while unenthusiastic, agrees. All are happy, except the mikado, who says that now no one has been executed. Ko-Ko comes up with the explana- tion: “When your majesty says, ‘let a thing be done,’ it’s as good as done--practically is done--because your majesty’s word is law.” The mikado is satisfied, and everyone happily sings the finale. Characters: The Mikado The mikado of Japan: The emperor of Japan and the father of Nanki-Poo, the mikado is the law. In fact, 4 Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 “When [his] majesty says, ‘Let a thing be done,’ it’s as good as done—practically it is done— because [his] majesty’s will is law.” Nanki-Poo: The son of the mikado, Nanki-Poo has fled the royal court because his father has prom- ised him in marriage to Katisha. Nanki-Poo, however, loves Yum-Yum and has gone in search for her, disguised as a wandering minstrel. Ko-Ko: The lord high executioner of Titipu (the highest rank a citizen can obtain), Ko-Ko was a cheap tailor who had been sentenced to death for flirting, until he was raised to his high position through “remarkable circumstances.” He is also engaged to marry Yum-Yum, even though she doesn’t love him. Pooh-Bah: The lord high everything else, Pooh-Bah is “first lord of the treasury, lord chief justice, commander-in chief, lord high admiral, master of the buckhounds, groom of the back stairs, archbishop of Titipu, and lord mayor, both acting and elect, all rolled into one.” Pish-Tush: A noble lord of Titipu. Yum-Yum: A ward of Ko-Ko and sister of Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo, Yum-Yum is in love with Nanki- Poo, even though she is betrothed to Ko-Ko, whom she doesn’t love. Pitti-Sing: A ward of Ko-Ko and sister of Yum-Yum and Peep-Bo. Peep-Bo: A ward of Ko-Ko and sister of Yum-Yum and Pitti-Sing. Katisha: An elderly lady of the mikado’s court, Kathisha is in love with Nanki-Poo and has been promised to him by the mikado. However, Nanki-Poo does not return her love. W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan By Rachelle Hughes From Insights, 2006 Utah Shakespeare Festival 5 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 So far reaching is the effect of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas or comic operas of 130 years ago that contemporary entertainment media continues to belt out the songs in everything from an episode of The Simpsons to an episode of The West Wing. While the influence of the playwright/lyricist Sir W.S. Gilbert and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan can still be felt today, in Victorian England they defined a new kind of theatre with their fifteen timeless collaborations. Sir W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911) was born in Strand, London on November 18, 1836. He spent much of his youth touring Europe with his father (a retired naval surgeon), mother, and three sis- ters until he was about thirteen years old. Little is known about his family except that his parents were inflexible and stern people and that his relationship with them was strained. He finished col- lege at Kings College London and then went on to try a couple of different careers in government as a clerk and barrister. Finally, at around the age of twenty-six, Gilbert found his true calling in the creative arts and started writing short illustrated poems in the magazine Fun. He used his childhood nickname “Bab,” and the poetry collection is now known as The Bab Ballads. Some of these first creative ventures became the base concepts for several of his liberatti, including H.M.S. Pinafore and Trial by Jury. Not long after his poetic beginnings Gilbert produced his first professional play, Uncle Baby in 1863. It ran for only seven weeks. He had no more dramatic successes until 1866. In 1867 he married Lucy Agnes Turner. In 1871 Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated on their first comic opera, Thespis. Although it was moderately successful, the musical score was never published and most of the songs were lost to posterity, although some were recycled into later works. In addition to his initial collaboration with Sullivan, Gilbert premiered no fewer than seven plays in 1871. “He was writing farces, oper- etta libretti, extravaganzas, fairy comedies, adaptations from novels, translations from the French and even the occasional serious drama” (Andrew Crowther, The Life of W.S. Gilbert, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/html/gilbert_l.html), 3). Despite Gilbert’s sizeable repertoire, it was his work with Sullivan that would always be the most successful.
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