Class 6: "Satire on Stage"

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6. Satire on Stage. Inspired by the designs on Japanese prints and ceramics, WS Gilbert imagined an absurd Japan whose administration was arbitrary and discipline draconian. Set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, this became The Mikado (1885), the most successful of the pair's Savoy Operas. Of course the audiences realized that this picture-book Japan was not real, but a satire on the English political scene. Nevertheless, many modern companies have avoided charges of cultural appropriation by removing Asian references. Jonathan Miller's 1987 production for the English National Opera, set in a resort hotel in the Twenties, was one of the first and still the cleverest; we shall watch most of Act One. rb.

The script, videos, and images will be posted immediately after class.

Handout (flat) Handout (folded) Class Script

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VIDEO LINKS

We are very much in luck this week! Everything shown in class is currently available on YouTube, plus much else besides. The 2015 revival of the Jonathan Miller production at the ENO, which was the featured work, is available complete, in good quality, and with titles. Most of the other productions I referenced are available complete also; see the first section below.

I was thrilled to see that Mike Leigh's 1999 film Topsy Turvy is also available complete. It is a marvelous and detailed dramatisation of the genesis of The Mikado, and is both trustworthy and informative. The first two links are to the clips shown in class. The third link is to a longer section devoted to Mikado rehearsals, which is very funny. But really the whole thing is worth watching in full.

In addition to the two versions of Ko-Ko's list song I played in class, I have added the video and text of Eric Idle's version in the original 1987 Miller production, plus one other with an Australian spin and a hilarious parody from Family Guy; don't miss it!

Under the heading of Cultural Appropriation, I posted the three openings I showed in class, plus the one from Stratford, Ontario, as an example of Japanese elements used as part of a sophisticated design concept. At the opposite end of the scale, I include the opening from the Auckland production that gives the whole thing a Maori spin; it was too radical a departure from the original to show in class. More radical still is a video from G&S Austin called "A Fresh Take on Three Little Maids" that takes diversity just about as far as it will go. And, oh yes, I threw in the complete Katy Perry Asian-themed performance that I used in my title video. All three of these need to be seen to be believed!

*Asterisks indicate clips not played in class.

COMPLETE PERFORMANCES
	D'Oyly Carte 1966	* complete (the traditional approach preserved)
	Stratford 1982	* complete
	Auckland 1996	* complete (more of an adaptation; see below)
	Melbourne 2011	* complete (contextualized in Victorian theatre)
	ENO 2015	* complete, with titles (the Jonathan Miller production featured in class)

AN IMAGINED JAPAN
	Yum-Yum's song	* The sun whose rays (Valerie Masterson, 1966)
	Topsy Turvy	* 1999 film complete (Mike Leigh, director) * — clip shown in class 1 * — clip shown in class 2 * — The Mikado in Rehearsal

ENGLAND ABSURD
	Pooh-Bah's speech	* Stratford 1982 (Richard McMillan)
	Ko-Ko's little list	* D'Oyly Carte 1966 (John Reed) * ENO 1987 (Eric Idle; text is here) * Melbourne 2011 (Mitchell Butel) * ENO 2015 (Richard Suart) * Family Guy parody

LET'S TALK ABOUT CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
	Opening scenes	* D'Oyly Carte 1966 * Stratford 1982 * PBS 1983 * Auckland 1996 (with Maori haka additions!) * Melbourne 2011
	Other clips	* A fresh take on The Mikado (GS Austin, see note above) * Katy Perry: "Unconditionally" (used in title montage)


IMAGES
The thumbnails below cover the slides shown in class, though there may be a few small discrepancies. Click the thumbnail to see a larger image. Click on the right or left of the larger picture to go forward or back, or outside it to close.

Here are brief bios of the composers and writers considered in the class, listed in order of birth.

	William Schwenk Gilbert, 1813–1911. English playwright. The author of many straight plays as well, Gilbert gained lasting fame as the librettist and theatrical genius behind the 14 operettas ("Savoy Operas") written with Arthur Sullivan between 1871 and 1896. These became almost as popular in America as the were in Britain.
	Arthur Seymour Sullivan, 1842–1900. English composer. Sullivan essentially had two careers: as a classical composer of orchestral music and oratorios on suitably uplifting subjects, and as the musical partner to W. S. Gilbert on the highly successful series of Savoy Operas from HMS Pinafore (1878) to The Gondoliers (1889) and beyond. History only remembers him in the latter role.
	Richard D’Oyly Carte, 1844–1901. English impresario. Originally a singer and conductor, D'Oyly Carte found great success later by commissioning the 14 "Savoy Operas" from Gilbert and Sullivan, building a theatre to perform them in (plus an hotel), and controlling their subsequent distribution through stringent copyright. His posthumous grip on their performance did not end until 1961. His foundation of the Royal English Opera was markedly less successful.
	Jonathan Miller, 1934–2019. British physician, comedian, writer, television presenter, and director. Even before he came to fame as one of the four writer-performers in the comedy review Beyond the Fringe in 1960 (with Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore), Miller had qualified as a doctor and begun a career in medicine—something he continued on and off for the rest of his life as a researcher, writer, and television presenter. Shortly after leaving Fringe, he trained as a director, eventually joining the National Theatre and directing The Merchant of Venice with Olivier. He also branched out into opera with landmark productions such as a Mafia Rigoletto and a non-Japanese Mikado for the English National Opera, and Pelléas et Mélisande and The Rake's Progress for the Met.