Music by Arthur Sullivan: Lyrics and Libretto by W.S. Gilbert
SYNOPSIS AND CAST
The Emperor of Japan, the Mikado, has decreed that the act of flirting when ‘not conubially linked’ is punishable by death. The townsfolk of Titipu appoint Ko-Ko as the Lord High Executioner – he has been imprisoned for flirting and would be obliged to execute himself before beheading anyone else.
Arriving in Titipu, Nanki-Poo is distressed to hear of this new appointment. He has been forced to leave his father’s Court to avoid execution due to the unwarranted attentions of Katisha and has come to Titipu to claim Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko’s bride to-be, believing that she would now be freed of her engagement to Ko-Ko in the light of his imprisonment. Yum-Yum has no desire to marry Ko-Ko but knows that he will not release her to anybody else, especially not to an itinerant musician.
Heartbroken, Nanki-Poo prepares to commit suicide but is prevented from doing so by Ko-Ko, who has received orders from the Mikado to execute someone within the month, and suggests that Nanki-Poo be the required victim. Nanki-Poo agrees on the condition that in the meantime he can marry Yum-Yum, a plan which receives a temporary set-back at the discovery that the wife of a beheaded man must be buried alive. However, when they hear that the Mikado, accompanied by Katisha, is approaching the town, Ko-Ko, anxious to avoid the Mikado’s wrath, decides to pretend that Nanki-Poo’s execution has already taken place.
Unfortunately, the Mikado is furious to learn that it is his son who has supposedly been beheaded and Ko-Ko has no choice but to persuade Nanki-Poo to “come back to life”, a plan Nanki-Poo will only agree to if Ko-Ko proposes to the unwed Katisha. Reluctantly he agrees and Katisha, believing Nanki-Poo to be dead, accepts the proposal. With Katisha out of the way, Nanki-Poo appears before the Mikado. He is delighted to see his son alive, and all is forgiven.
Producer: Leonard Osborne
Musical Director: Christopher Slater
CAST
| The Mikado of Japan | James Godwin |
| Nanki-Poo | Christopher Evans |
| Ko-Ko | Peter Evans |
| Ko-Ko’s Page | Alan Reed |
| Pooh-Bah | Jeremy Page |
| Pish-Tush | Peter Harrison |
| Go-To | Roger Chapman |
| Yum-Yum | Theresa Booth |
| Pitti-Sing | Ann Tugwell |
| Peep-Bo | Elizabeth Partridge |
| Katisha | Norma Evans |
| CHORUS, Schoolgirls, Nobles and | Coolies |
| Gentlemen | |
| Pat Bourne | Alf Coy |
| David Coy | Ian Coy |
| Roger Chapman | Peter Clark |
| Andrew Ducker | Stan Evans |
| Alex Field | Roy Howell |
| Howard Kilduff | Paul Kilduff |
| Percy Morgan | David Morris |
| Dick Plummridge | Andrew Pye |
| Les Slatter | Ken Warner |
| Phillip Wilcox | |
| Ladies | |
| Dee Bayliss | Marie Bennett |
| Kathy Burditt | Pat Coombs |
| Eileen Daryll-Joseph | Connie Easy |
| Barbara Fleming | Maureen Harding |
| Peggy Harrison | Pauleen Howel |
| Heaher James | Nancy Lang |
| Cheryl Laverty | Marilyn Page |
| Vena Reed | Jill Riddell |
| Pam Roe | Marion Stewart |
| Peggy Thomson | Lillian Woods |