This is an open letter to the Light Opera of Portland (LOoP) asking them to cease their current production of The Mikado. We are asking for those in agreement to show their support by signing on. Scroll down to sign the letter.
A local theater company, the Light Opera of Portland (LOoP), is planning on performing Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta The Mikado here in Portland at the end of September 2018. This musical work has been heavily criticized by the Asian American and theater communities for its offensive and orientalist history and many feel that it is inappropriate for it to still performed. Many opera companies, such as LOoP, believe that resetting the location or the names of the characters avoids this works' history of yellowface and exoticism, but this approach only furthers its problematic nature as well as allows us as a society to just cover up our problems with systemic racism instead of confronting them. This is the third such production in Portland since 2015 that has chosen to perform The Mikado. None of these productions have consulted with the Asian American community of their own accord and none have ceased their performances when asked by members of the affected communities. #stopthemikadopdx
To Light Opera of Portland,
The signers of this letter object to the upcoming performance of The Mikado being produced by the community theater group, Light Opera of Portland (LOoP). We ask them to reconsider their decision to produce a work that is both historically and currently offensive to the Asian American community. We ask that LOoP stop production out of respect for Asian Americans and recognition of the historical damage this work has caused.
The Mikado was written by Gilbert and Sullivan in 1885 and heavily relies upon orientalist themes and attitudes that were, unfortunately, very popular at the time. While orientalism's harm was not generally understood by non-Asians at the time, this ignorance does not erase the fact that racist and offensive attitudes were always at the foundations of The Mikado's creation. Asian and Asian American communities have long bemoaned productions of The Mikado and have long been silenced by those who find upholding the British tradition of exoticizing other cultures as socially acceptable.
We recognize LOoP has decided to confront the historical usage of yellowface, normally used when performing The Mikado, by making changes to the plot location and some word changes. However, the reality for the Asian American community is that no amount of changing the plot, character names, or even musical score erases what is damaging. Works whose foundations are embedded orientalism need to be left to history, not continuously performed with hopes that reinventing them will somehow be less offensive or less problematic.
We hope LOoP will recognize the changing of the story's setting to outer space does not feel less offensive, but it is just a furthering of the idea of Asians as exotic and unworthy of being seen for their humanity. Changes to the musical score or libretto do not cover up the words or notes they are replacing; they just assist in the idea that fighting racism is about covering up rather than confronting. Further, having characters that were originally written as "Japanese" now being rewritten to be more palatable to modern audiences is a type of whitewashing. This type of whitewashing is finding strong backlash in today's media world that is recognizing the need for authentic representation in storytelling.
We object to LOoP's production approach, where they chose not to reach out to the Asian American community before or after deciding to add this their 2018 season. The Asian American community was only consulted with when members of the Asian American community reached out to LOoP first in objection over their production. LOoP previously claimed it engaged and consulted with Asian Americans by citing approval from Asian American member(s) of their cast, none of whom are from the Japanese American community, the community most negatively impacted by this production. This is tokenizing of their individual company member(s) and is unacceptable. The decision to seek approval for something as offensive as The Mikado needs to come from the larger community, not just a handful of company members who are already associated with the production.
We ask for LOoP to take a strong stand against any form of yellowface or whitewashing. We ask for cessation of any performances and encourage LOoP to remove The Mikado from its future repertoire list in general. We ask for LOoP to stand in solidarity and be an ally with the Asian American and theater communities who are asking to be heard and respected.
We invite LOoP to stay in conversation with members of the Portland Asian American and theater communities to help further the dialogue and understanding around the issues discussed in this letter.
Sincerely,