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Fatal Desire at the Arundel Barn Playhouse

ARUNDEL, ME: What do Shakespeare, Jesus, and Rogers and Hammerstein have in common? Apart from being enthusiastic fans of music, they all have employed language—in one form or another—to communicate their respective sentiments on love. Shakespeare, for instance, employed the romantic language of poetry, whereas Rogers and Hammerstein utilized the medium of musical theatre. No matter the means by which the subject is explored, love is an innately human experience that has inspired the work of many fictional writers and composers of music. Moreover, it wields the exceptional ability to unite once estranged or frustrated family members, friends, or lovers.

Opening a window up to the mesmerizing Far East, The Mikado presents a romance story that is fraught with thwarted love and impending death. Initially conceived collaboratively as an opera in 1885 by the musical duo Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu portrays Japanese culture, society, and politics through the lens of Victorian England. Even though the opera was designed to satirize late nineteenth-century English politics and institutions, it comically tells an epic tale of love between two people that is challenged, and almost destroyed, by ludicrous societal prohibitions.
For instance, when Nanki-Poo, the inamorato of the story, arrives to the town of Titipu to locate his beloved Yum-Yum, he is told that the Mikado (the emperor of Japan) has decreed it a capital offense for one not “connubially linked” to flirt with, wink at, or woo another. To make matters worse, Yum-Yum is engaged to be married to her aged guardian Ko-Ko, who is the nominal Lord High Executioner of Titipu.

To add even more absurdity to this laugh-out-loud operetta, in sashays Katisha, an elderly lady who is head-over-heels for her estranged fiancé, Nanki-Poo. It is humorously made known that Katisha is the bearer of two particular traits that make her apparently irresistible to men: her arresting left elbow and provocative right heel. Notwithstanding these attributes of hers, Nanki-Poo is not interested in cultivating a relationship with her; nonetheless, this does not deter her from pursuing his love. In fact, she accompanies his father, the Mikado, to Titipu with the intent of finally containing Nanki-Poo within the peripheries of marriage.

To discover the conclusion of this salaciously juicy narrative, make reservations at the Arundel Barn Playhouse at 207-985-5553. Performances for The Mikado will run from July 14-August 1, Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; one Sunday evening performance on July 19 at 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday matinees at 2: 00 p.m.; and one Friday matinee on July 24. Prices range from $28 to $39.