The popular comic opera, with music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert, was first performed in 1885 and is the pair’s ninth collaboration. With sharp wit and timeless music, the legendary classic satirizes British bureaucracy, manners, and morals. The Mikado will be featured as part of the 3rd annual Franklin Cultural Festival, hosted by the Franklin Cultural District Committee. The visual, performing and culinary arts celebration will take place July 26-30 at various downtown Franklin locations within the proposed Cultural District. Events are offered to the public free of charge.

FPAC presents The Mikado as part of the company’s 10th anniversary Whatever Theater Festival, featured this summer within the Franklin Cultural Festival. Conceived and directed by Nick Paone, the Whatever Theater Festival brings together professional artists, FPAC alumni, students, and community performers in a collaborative theatrical experience that showcases an exciting range of dramatic and comedic works. FPAC’s 2017 Whatever Theater Festival is sponsored in part by grants from Norfolk, Foxborough, North Attleborough, and Wrentham Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.