Operas -
The Mikado - “The Town of Titipu”
BY W.S. GILBERT and ARTHUR SULLIVAN
Setting: Titipu, Japan; early 19th Century
Prologue:
Before the opera begins, Nanki-Poo has fled from the court of his father, the Mikado of Japan, to escape marriage with an elderly lady named Katisha. Assuming the disguise of a musician, he has fallen in love with a fair maiden, Yum-Yum, but has been prevented from marrying her by her guardian, Ko-Ko, who wishes to marry her himself. However, Ko-Ko has been condemned to death for flirting, and as Act I opens, Nanki-Poo is hastening to the court of Ko-Ko in Titipu to find out whether Yum-Yum is now free to marry him.
Act I: From Pooh-Bah, a corrupt and proud public official, and the nobleman, Pish-Tush, Nanki-Poo learns that Ko-Ko has become Lord High Executioner, preventing his sentence of decapitation from being carried out. Ko-Ko is now prepared to marry Yum-Yum this same afternoon.
Everything appears to be going well when a letter arrives from the Mikado ordering Ko-Ko to execute someone or else lose his position as Executioner. He is desperate to find a victim when Nanki-Poo appears, bent upon suicide because he cannot marry Yum-Yum. By offering him the right to marry Yum-Yum for one month, Ko-Ko persuades Nanki-Poo to face public execution at the end of the month.
There is general rejoicing at the apparent solution to everyone's problems, marred only by the unexpected appearance of Katisha, in quest of the vanished object of her affections, Nanki-Poo. She is finally driven away, but threatens to go to the Mikado about the matter.
Act II:
Yum-Yum prepares for marriage with Nanki-Poo. As all are singing a merry madrigal, Ko-Ko enters with news that he has just discovered a law stating that when a married man is executed, his wife must be also buried alive. To save Yum-Yum from that fate, Nanki-Poo decides to kill himself at once. This throws Ko-Ko into a quandary to find someone to execute, especially as he has heard that the Mikado is at this moment on his way to Titipu. Nanki-Poo magnanimously offers himself for immediate decapitation, but Ko-Ko is unable to perform the execution without some practice.
Another way out of the difficulty presents itself: Ko-Ko has Pooh-Bah make a false affidavit that Nanki-Poo has been executed, and bids Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum leave the country.
The Mikado soon appears. Ko-Ko thinks the object of this official is to see whether or not the execution has in fact taken place. He accordingly produces the sworn affidavit and describes the event with gusto. However, the Mikado is actually, at the prompting of Katisha, in search of his lost son.
When it becomes known that the person Ko-Ko has supposedly executed is none other than the Mikado's own son, Ko-Ko and all his accomplices are declared guilty of causing the death of the Heir Apparent. Their only hope is to admit that the affidavit is false and produce Nanki-Poo alive and well. But, seeing as Nanki-Poo has already married Yum-Yum and therefore cannot marry Katisha, Ko-Ko is certain that Katisha will surely insist on the execution of Nanki-Poo and the subsequent burial of Yum-Yum.
Ko-Ko solves the problem by offering Katisha his hand in marriage. She refuses but after hearing his touching serenade finally accepts him. Ko-Ko and the others throw themselves at the feet of the Mikado and beg for mercy. The story climaxes as Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum enter at last and present themselves to the Mikado. Katisha furiously seizes Ko-Ko and brands him a traitor. However, the Mikado intervenes as Father and son are reunited, Ko-Ko and his accomplices are forgiven, and everyone celebrates the union of Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum.
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