The Mikado; or The
Town of Titipu, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur
Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic
collaborations. It opened in 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre
for 672 performances, the second longest run for any work of musical theatre
and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. Before the
end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150
companies were producing the opera. The Mikado remains the most
frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and
school productions. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is
one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history.
Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from Britain, allowed
Gilbert to satirize British politics and institutions by disguising them as
Japanese. Gilbert used foreign or fictional locales in several operas,
including The Mikado, Princess Ida, The Gondoliers, Utopia,
Limited and The Grand Duke, to soften the impact of his pointed
satire of British institutions.
Act I, Courtyard of Ko-Ko's Official Residence
Gentlemen of the fictitious Japanese town of Titipu are gathered ("If
you want to know who we are"). A handsome but poor minstrel, Nanki-Poo,
arrives and introduces himself ("A wand'ring minstrel I"). He
inquires about his beloved, a schoolgirl called Yum-Yum, who is a ward of Ko-Ko
(formerly a cheap tailor). One of the gentlemen, Pish-Tush, explains that when
the Mikado decreed that flirting was a capital crime, the Titipu authorities
frustrated the decree by appointing Ko-Ko, a prisoner condemned to death for
flirting, to the post of Lord High Executioner ("Our great Mikado,
virtuous man"). As Ko-Ko was the next prisoner scheduled to be
decapitated, the town authorities reasoned that he could "not cut off
another's head until he cut his own off", and since Ko-Ko was not likely
to try to execute himself, no executions could take place. However, all of the
town's officials except the haughty nobleman, Pooh-Bah, proved too proud to
serve under an ex-tailor, and they resigned. Pooh-Bah now holds all their posts
and collects all their salaries. Pooh-Bah informs Nanki-Poo that Yum-Yum is
scheduled to marry Ko-Ko on the very day that he has returned ("Young man,
despair").
Ko-Ko enters ("Behold the Lord High Executioner") and asserts
himself by reading off a list of people "who would not be missed" if
they were executed ("As someday it may happen"), such as people
"who eat peppermint and puff it in your face". Yum-Yum appears with
Ko-Ko's other two wards, Peep-Bo and Pitti-Sing ("Comes a train of little
ladies", "Three little maids from school"). Pooh-Bah does not
think that the girls have shown him enough respect ("So please you,
sir"). Nanki-Poo arrives and informs Ko-Ko of his love for Yum-Yum. Ko-Ko
sends him away, but Nanki-Poo manages to meet with his beloved and reveals his
secret to Yum-Yum: he is the son and heir of the Mikado, but travels in
disguise to avoid the amorous advances of Katisha, an elderly lady of his
father's court. They lament that the law forbids them to flirt ("Were you
not to Ko-Ko plighted").
Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah receive news that the Mikado has just decreed that
unless an execution is carried out in Titipu within a month, the town will be
reduced to the rank of a village, which would bring "irretrievable
ruin". Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tush point to Ko-Ko himself as the obvious choice
for beheading, since he was already under sentence of death ("I am so
proud"). Ko-Ko argues, however, that, firstly, it would be "extremely
difficult, not to say dangerous", for someone to attempt their own
beheading, and secondly, it would be suicide, which is a capital offence.
Fortuitously, Ko-Ko discovers that Nanki-Poo, in despair over losing Yum-Yum,
is preparing to commit suicide. After ascertaining that nothing would change
Nanki-Poo's mind, Ko-Ko makes a bargain with him: Nanki-Poo may marry Yum-Yum
for one month if, at the end of that time, he allows himself to be executed.
Ko-Ko would then marry the young widow.
Everyone arrives to celebrate Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum's union ("With
aspect stern and gloomy stride"), but the festivities are interrupted by
the arrival of Katisha, who has come to claim Nanki-Poo as her husband.
However, the townspeople are sympathetic to the young couple, and Katisha's
attempts to reveal Nanki-Poo's secret are drowned out by the shouting of the
crowd. Outwitted but not defeated, Katisha makes it clear that she intends to
get vengeance.
Act II, Ko-Ko's Garden.
Yum-Yum is being prepared by her friends for her wedding ("Braid the
raven hair"), after which she muses on her own beauty ("The sun whose
rays"). Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo return to remind her of the limited
duration of her impending union. Joined by Nanki-Poo and Pish-Tush, they try to
keep their spirits up ("Brightly dawns our wedding-day"), but soon
Ko-Ko and Pooh-Bah enter to inform them of a twist in the law that states that
when a married man is beheaded for flirting, his wife must be buried alive
("Here's a how-de-do"). Yum-Yum is unwilling to marry under these
circumstances, and so Nanki-Poo challenges Ko-Ko to behead him on the spot. It
turns out, however, that Ko-Ko has never executed anyone, not even a Blue
bottle, and cannot execute Nanki-Poo, because the ex-tailor is too
soft-hearted. Ko-Ko instead sends Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum away to be wed (by
Pooh-Bah, as Archbishop of Titipu), promising to present to the Mikado a false
affidavit in evidence of the fictitious execution.
The Mikado and Katisha arrive in Titipu accompanied by a large procession
("Mi-ya Sa-Ma", "From Every Kind of Man"). The Mikado
describes his system of justice ("A more humane Mikado"). Ko-Ko
assumes that the ruler has come to see whether an execution has been carried
out. Aided by Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah, he graphically describes the supposed
execution ("The criminal cried") and hands the Mikado the certificate
of death, signed and sworn to by Pooh-Bah as coroner. Ko-Ko notes slyly that
most of the town's important officers (that is, Pooh-Bah) were present at the
ceremony. However, the Mikado has come about an entirely different matter; he
is searching for his son. When they hear that the Mikado's son "goes by
the name of Nanki-Poo", the three panic, and Ko-Ko says that Nanki-Poo
"has gone abroad". Meanwhile, Katisha is reading the death
certificate and notes with horror that the person executed was Nanki-Poo. The
Mikado, though expressing understanding and sympathy ("See How the
Fates"), discusses with Katisha the statutory punishment "for
compassing the death of the heir apparent" to the Imperial
throne—something lingering, "with boiling oil ... or melted lead".
With the three conspirators facing painful execution, Ko-Ko pleads with
Nanki-Poo to reveal himself to his father. Nanki-Poo fears that Katisha will
demand his execution if she finds he is alive, but he suggests that if Katisha
could be persuaded to marry Ko-Ko, then Nanki-Poo could safely "come to
life again", as Katisha would have no claim on him ("The flowers that
bloom in the spring"). Though Katisha is "something appalling",
Ko-Ko has no choice: it is marriage to Katisha, or a painful death for himself,
Pitti-Sing and Pooh-Bah.
Ko-Ko finds Katisha mourning her loss ("Alone, and yet alive")
and throws himself on her mercy. He begs for her hand in marriage, saying that
he has long harboured a passion for her. Katisha initially rebuffs him, but is
soon moved by his story of a bird who died of heartbreak
("Tit-willow"). She agrees ("There is beauty in the bellow of
the blast") and, once the ceremony is performed (by Pooh-Bah, the
Registrar), she begs for the Mikado's mercy for him and his accomplices.
Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum then re-appear, sparking Katisha's fury. The Mikado is
astonished that Nanki-Poo is alive, as the account of his execution had been
given with such "affecting particulars". Ko-Ko explains that when a
royal command for an execution is given, the victim is, legally speaking, as
good as dead, "and if he is dead, why not say so?" The Mikado
deems that "Nothing could possibly be more satisfactory", and
everyone in Titipu celebrates ("For he's gone and married Yum-Yum").
