Since 1884, the word “Mikado” has resonated around the world as an operetta about love, world culture, government systems and human interaction within the setting of Japan.

On Nov. 11 and 12, “The Mikado” was performed at the newly renovated Waterman Theater located in Tyler Hall. The audience was filled with Oswego locals and large groups of Oswego State students.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” is intended to educate the audience about Victorian society by actually making fun of what encompasses it. It is an operetta, which contrasts to an opera in that it is shorter and more light-hearted. The operetta uses very few props and relies on the dialogue to make the jokes. Everything from marriage to the death penalty is described in the story, making it a very interesting turn of events for the characters. The setting of Japan was used by Gilbert and Sullivan to disguise their attempts to make fun of 19th century Britain, even though their views on Victorian ideals remain very obvious.

The play follows Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado, the Japanese emperor. He has fled Japan in disguise to avoid marrying a much older woman and to find and marry his true love, Yum-Yum. Yum-Yum, however, is supposed to marry Ko-Ko, the lord high executioner, against her will. In the meantime, Ko-Ko finds his job difficult to carry out, as the Mikado puts pressure on him to kill many people, but the executioner realizes he is too kindhearted to kill anyone. The characters seek many different solutions for their complicated love triangles and attempt to work around the marriage and death laws that caused problems.

The version of “The Mikado” that was performed at Oswego State held this same plot but contained a modern twist on each element of the story. All of the characters used cell phones, and it was a recurring theme for them to be distracted by their phones when a major event was happening in the plot. The 2017 presidential election was referenced many times, and the cast even sang the word “Oswego” in a few of their songs. All of these elements helped the audience relate to the characters and served as obvious analogies to the characters’ emotions. The dialogue remained true to 19th century Britain.

The combination of the Japanese setting and character names, British dialect, an opera singing style and modern 2017 ideals, with a story about both marriage and death, makes for a very interesting performance on many levels. At first, however, this makes it easy to become confused as an audience member with all of this information being presented simultaneously.

Even if an audience member does not identify with the story or know the background of the politics, the talented opera singers provide a musically pleasing show within just the notes that they sing. The actual plot can be difficult to understand at the beginning of the performance due to the introduction of many characters at once, all with very unique names.

Overall, “The Mikado” was both a visually and musically pleasing show to attend. The show balances comedy and informative context in a way that makes it still relevant and understandable in 2017. The opera music and dialogue worked very well together, and it was obvious that all of the actors were passionate about their roles as characters within the show. The show was memorable, and it was a very unique performance for Oswego State to host. 

Photo: Jessice Kisluk