Tomorrow in 1885, the Savoy Theatre in London presented for the first time ‘The Mikado’, a comic opera by the famous British duo Gilbert & Sullivan.
‘The Mikado’ became one of the most beloved and enduring works of Gilbert & Sullivan, and is still a popular choice for opera and theatre companies around the world.
The History Of The Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre, where ‘The Mikado’ premiered, was a pioneering venue that was specifically built for the performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s works. It was located on the Strand in central London, and was designed by architect C.J. Phipps.
The Savoy Theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electric lights, which were installed by the theatre’s owner, Richard D’Oyly Carte. This innovation allowed the theater to stay open later into the evening, and it helped to establish the Savoy as a cultural landmark in London.
Who were Gilbert & Sullivan?
William S. Gilbert (1836–1911) was a playwright and librettist, and Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) was a composer, and together they wrote a series of comic operas that became some of the most popular and enduring works of the Victorian era.
Their works, while offering catchy tunes and memorable characters, were also recognised for satirizing British society and politics.
They also deeply influenced today’s pop culture, and you can find some influence of Gilbert & Sullivan in TV shows like ‘Yes, Minister’ and the Monty Python’s Flying Circus, lines from their operas became popular in British culture, ‘’A Short, Sharp Shock’’(*), for instance, even appearing in a song in Pink Floyds’ album, ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’
(*) Beautiful alliteration describing or relating to a punishment that is quick and effective.
Where are Gilbert & Sullivan?
You can’t meet them together nowadays, as they have two separate memorials in London, which is a pity I think:
A bronze bust of Sullivan is located in Victoria Embankment Gardens, It is the work of Sir William Goscombe John and was unveiled in 1903. The monument features a scantily clad female leaning against the bust in apparent grief. Sheet music, a mandolin and a mask lie discarded around her.
The bronze memorial plaque to Gilbert was unveiled in 1915, four years after his death. It is attached to Charing Cross Pier on the downstream side of Hungerford Bridge. It is the work of Sir George Frampton and shows Gilbert in profile relief flanked by figures of Comedy and Tragedy.
‘The Mikado’
The Plot
‘The Mikado’ is set in a fictional Japanese town, Titipu.
The story is a love triangle between Nanki-Poo, the Prince disguised as a wandering minstrel; Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner of Titipu, and Yum-Yum, the young woman they are both in love with.
The other main characters are the Mikado (the Emperor), Katisha, an elderly lady in love with Nanki-Poo, Pooh-Bah and Pish-Tish, two nobles of Titipu, and the two sisters of Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing and Peep-Bo.
The Controversy
This is the original programme of the day of the premiere. It doesn’t look very Japanese to me… Apparently it was quite a common practice to use illustrations of a different opera as advertising. I guess they would wait to see if the opera was successful, before paying the creating and printing fees for an original illustration.
‘The Mikado’ was tremendously successful from the beginning. Its initial production ran for 672 performances, and within a year some 150 other companies were performing the operetta in England and the United States.
That surely deserved the printing fees, here are a few of the later ads, posters and programmes
Cultural Appropriation?
Ooooh, that’s sensitive nowadays, isn’t it?
There has been plenty of controversies over the years, even before the 21st Century expression ‘Cultural Appropriation’ existed.
‘The Mikado’ was even withdrawn for a while in 1907, when a member of the Japanese Imperial Family was visiting England on a diplomatic mission. The Lord Chamberlain was so worried that ‘The Mikado’ may offend their honoured guest that the opera’s license was canceled just prior to his visit.
You will find plenty of very smart people (smarter than me anyway) all over the World Wide Web, who will shed light on why ‘The Mikado’ can be considered offensive or why it is definitely not. That’s not my point here, and I will stick to talking about the original 1885 operetta, which is really, without any doubt, a cultural product of Victorian England, in its full imperial bloom.
Why Japan then?
So why on earth did they chose to set this opera in Japan? It wasn’t even a British colony!
I believe Gilbert really had a knack at understanding what people would like, and the stories that would work.
And at that time specifically, Japan was in the air, there was a taste for all things Japanese, and I guess he just went with the flow…
Moreover, he was in a bit of a rush to find a new idea as in March 1884, their impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte (also the owner of the Savoy Theatre) gave Gilbert and Sullivan contractual notice that a new opera would be required within six months.
In May, Gilbert sent Sullivan a sketch of the plot to ‘The Mikado’, but It would take another ten months for The Mikado to reach the stage.
His attention was already attracted to Japan then, but at the same time, a Japanese Village settled in Knightsbridge for a few months, so he did not have to travel far for inspiration.
The Japanese Village
was an exhibition of Japanese culture located in Humphreys’ Hall, Knightsbridge, which took place from January 1885 until June 1887.
The exhibition employed around 100 Japanese men and women in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village.
According to advertisements placed in the weekly magazine Illustrated London News:
“Skilled Japanese artisans and workers (male and female) will illustrate the manners, customs, and art-industries of their country, attired in their national and picturesque costumes. Magnificently decorated and illuminated Buddhist temple. Five o’clock tea in the Japanese tea-house. Japanese Musical and other Entertainments. Every-day Life as in Japan”.
It was something like the first ‘Hyper Japan’ festival ever (click on the image to see 2023’s programs/announcement)
The Japanese Village was a huge success, recording 250,000 visitors in the first four months. Gilbert was one of them, he even took photographies:
It was too good an opportunity to be missed, and Gilbert approached a male dancer and a Geisha, who knew only 2 words of English : ‘Sixpence, please’’, which was the price of a cup of tea at the Japanese Village tea house, where she worked:
He hired them to teach the cast of the show how to move and dance, hold and use their fans, as well as to how to wear the traditional clothes, make-up and hairdos. And to his credit, he got it all right, except for the very obvious not-Asian faces…
‘The Mikado’ was last performed in the West End at The Coliseum in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic caused theatres to shut down. It was a production by the English National Opera, and was directed by Jonathan Miller.
The show ran from February 28 to March 14, 2020, marking the 135th anniversary of the original production at the Savoy Theatre in 1885.
Helene
