Why the Mikado is Anti-Racist.

I recently saw a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s the Mikado renamed <a href="https://dpb-web.instantencore.com/program/43509/page/79256?cid=5130233" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Il Ducato</a> and set in Milan instead of Japan. This reminded me of another rewritten version I read about online called the <a href="https://www.gilbertsullivan.org/shows/the-mcado-2022/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">MacAdo</a> , which was set in Scotland. Both of these shows struck me as solution in search of a problem, and to switch metaphors, a case where the cure is worse than the disease. Il Ducato still had enough of the show’s original sparkle to be worth watching, but it didn’t benefit from the retelling in any way whatsoever. The only reason it was set in Milan is that this is the only Italian city whose name rhymes with “Japan”. (As does the word “Scotland”, sort of.) The only reason that the MacAdo was set in Scotland was that none of the people complaining about Apu on the Simpsons ever complained about the Scottish caricature of Grounds Keeper Willie. <a href="https://teedrockwell.medium.com/why-the-mikado-is-anti-racist-d1d81e21387">Read More</a>