Mikado fever hits the Mother City

It's the first time in 20 years that The Mikado (or The Town of Titipu) is staged in Cape Town. With music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert, it marks their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations and was first staged in London in 1885, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, and, before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.

Peculiour humour

It is set in a small Japanese town where Ko-Ko (Simon Speck) is appointed to the unenviable position of executioner. Knowing he must successfully perform an execution before the appearance of the Mikado in a month, Ko-Ko finds a suitable victim in Nanki-Poo (Marco Titus), who is distraught over his unrequited love for the maiden Yum-Yum (Karen Wilson Harris). Nanki-Poo agrees to sacrifice his life if he is allowed to spend his remaining days with Yum-Yum, who is betrothed to executioner Ko-Ko.

Yum-Yum (Karen Wilson-Harris) and Nanki-Poo (Marco Titus) - Photo credit, Waldo Buckle

The cast also features Peter Kramer as The Mikado, Stephan Le Roux as Poo-Bah, Waldo Buckle as Pish-Tush, and Karle Briedenhann as Pitti-Sing. Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics and institutions more freely by disguising them as Japanese.

Gilbert, having determined to leave his own country alone for a while, sought elsewhere for a subject suitable to his peculiar humour. A trifling accident inspired him with an idea. One day an old Japanese sword that, for years, had been hanging on the wall of his study, fell from its place. This incident directed his attention to Japan. Just at that time a company of Japanese had arrived in England and set up a little village of their own in Knightsbridge.

It's not a story about Japan

The opera is named after the Emperor of Japan using the term mikado, literally meaning "the honorable gate" of the imperial palace, referring metaphorically to its occupant and to the palace itself, and although the opera portrays Japanese culture, style and government, it is a fictional version of Japan used merely to provide a picturesque setting and to capitalise on Japonism and the British fascination with Japan and the Far East and in the 1880s.

Gilbert wrote, "The Mikado of the opera was an imaginary monarch of a remote period and cannot by any exercise of ingenuity be taken to be a slap on an existing institution. It was never a story about Japan but about the failings of the British government".

Captivating silliness

The Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan's production of Mikado is staged and directed by Roché Haupt-Buckle with musical direction by Alastair Cockburn, and the vibrant dance numbers is choreographed by Roxy Levy. Accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, well-known show-stoppers include A Wand'ring Minstrel, I've Got a Little List, Three Little Maids from School and many more.

Three Little Maids – Peep-Bo (Carmen Kinsey), Yum-Yum (Karen Wilson Harris) and Pitti-Sing (Karlé Briedenhann) - Photo credit, Waldo Buckle

The Mikado is hilarious and captivates silliness and it is no wonder that this glorious fantasy has become one of the best-loved of all the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with big, colourful characters and songs that you will be humming long after you have returned home!

It is on at the Artscape Theatre on 18, 21 - 25 July 2015 at 19:30, 19 July 2015 at 16:00, and 25 and 26 July 2015 at 14:00. Ticket prices R90 to R260. To book visit www.gilbertandsullivan.co.za

The International Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan

The Mikado will be the third production of the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society to represent South Africa at the annual international Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan and perform at the Buxton Opera House, in repertory with the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, on Friday 7 August, and at the Skipton Town Hall on Sunday 9 August.

The annual International Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan was started in 1994 by a Gilbert and Sullivan aficionado, Ian Smith, and his son, Neil. It runs for the first three weeks of August each year. Originally based in the beautiful Derbyshire town of Buxton, it has recently moved to Harrogate in Yorkshire. It takes the form of an international competition between various community theatre groups, who perform the operas from Sundays to Thursdays.

On the weekends, there are performances by professional groups such as the National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, the Opera Della Luna, and the Carl Rosa Opera Company. The community theatre performances are adjudicated, and there is an awards ceremony at the end of the Festival, with various awards made being made. The most important awards are of course the top three International Champions.

Groups from all over the UK, Europe, the US, Japan and elsewhere have performed at the Festival. And indeed, part of the fun of being at the Festival is meeting and making friends with similar interests from all over the world. The Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society has toured to the Festival three times: In 2005 with "The Pirates of Penzance"; in 2007 with "The Gondoliers", and in 2012 with "The Yeomen of the Guard", winning international awards each time.

It's truly a huge compliment for a proudly Cape Town production to represent South Africa at this international event.