Event Discussion: The Mikado at the Roseville Performing Arts Studio

I had the pleasure this past weekend of visiting Mayowa, who blogs at Pens with Cojones and is working on his book. While there we went to see The Mikado at the Roseville Performing Arts Studio. I thought I would talk about it a little bit here because I had some strong reactions to the event.

I will begin by saying that the actors and actresses who performed in this play all did a great job. They knew their lines, they knew the songs, the sang well, all of that. Very well done. My issue is with the opera itself.

Photo courtesy of the RPA studio website.

The Mikado is a Gilbert and Sullivan opera that was originally written in London and opened in 1885. According to Wikipedia it was and is incredibly popular and has enjoyed many runs. The opera is set in a fictional Japanese village – evidently because interest in all things Japanese was in vogue at the time of writing. The play has little factual basis in Japanese history, however, being instead a satirical look at British institutions, which was easier to do by using a foreign setting.

All of that is rather interesting and sounds good. The issue is that the opera is full of stereotypes and prejudices against the Japanese people and cultures. The costumes, the mincing steps, the high pitched giggle they kept doing, the bowing, the tea, and so on.

I do believe that some works exhibit racism, classism, and sexism due to the time during which they were produced. Sometimes this is unavoidable and I agree with many others who I’ve seen discussing it around the blogosphere in terms of classic literature that while it is still problematic, it is still possible to enjoy the work around that or even because of that – examining why the author held the beliefs and stereotypes he or she did, why it is problematic, and so forth. I love too, with productions or retellings, where the racism or sexism is directly challenged through the new work.

This production, unfortunately, was a true one with only a few changes as are mentioned in the Wikipedia entry to update a few of the songs with more modern references. I wish the racism against the Japanese, the homophobia shown in certain scenes (two couples are dancing and switch partners and the two men are dancing and when they realize they shudder back, repulsed, for example), or the sexism was challenged or acknowledged in any way.

I’ve discussed above the racism in the opera, I want to briefly mention the sexism as well. The premise of the play is that The Mikado‘s son did something to encourage the affections of a lady in his father’s court. To avoid the law forcing him to marry her because of this he escaped and disguised himself as a travelling musician. He falls for a young lady in this unnamed village and so wants to marry her, but the first lady finds him. She is portrayed as hideously ugly and by the end of the opera someone else is forced to marry her to avoid punishment for a perceived crime.

Let’s examine this in more detail, shall we? Basically he broke the law such that he has to marry her. But everyone sides with him because she is ugly. Because, you know, even if there are laws to protect women our culture doesn’t accept that and always puts the blame on the woman and lets the man get away with it. And then we have another man ‘forced’ to trick her into marriage. It was all rather disturbing to me.

So while it was an enjoyable evening, the opera definitely grated on my nerves for the reasons above. Has anyone else seen this opera? I’d love to hear more opinions on it.

(In other news I also got to meet up with Mark of Maphead last Friday before flying to California! We had a really great time chatting and I look forward to stopping in his city again.)