''Poppy'' is a 1982

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

play set during the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. The play takes the form of a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

, complete with

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Di ...

(played as a

principal boy In pantomime, a principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boy's clothes. The earliest example is Miss Ellington who in 1852 appeared in ''The Good Woman in the Wood'' by James Plan ...

), a

pantomime dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of '' travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or els ...

, and two

pantomime horse A pantomime horse is a theatrical representation of a horse or other quadruped by two actors in a single costume who cooperate and synchronize their movements. One actor plays the front end, including the horse's head and its front legs, in a mo ...

s. The

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this phys ...

and lyrics were written by Peter Nichols; the composer was

Monty Norman Monty Norman ('' né'' Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British composer, musician and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the " James Bond Theme", first heard in t ...

Plot

The year is 1840. The

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heave ...

warns the young

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

to know her place - "The Emperor's Greeting". The scene is set, panto-style, in a quaint, cardboard English village, "Dunroamin-on-the-Down", ancestral home of Sir Richard (Dick) Whittington and his widowed mother Lady Dodo. Dick sets off with his manservant Jack Idle and the men of the village to seek their fortune in London or in the new towns of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. Jack is sad to leave his girlfriend, Sally. His horse Randy and her mare Cherry also fancy each other and have to be rebuked for their friskiness - "Whoa, Boy". Lady Dodo pines for the good old days, but Dick believes the age of gold is yet to come. Sally, left with her mare, sings of her confusion. She likes Jack but pines for Sir Richard, who is also her

legal guardian A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, call ...

. Secretly, she and Dodo take off on their own for London. In the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

, Dick encounters Obadiah Upward, an up-and-coming merchant, who explains how their fortunes can be made in distant China from the sale of poppies. Dodo and Sally arrive and they agree to make the journey. They sail to India, and, in the poppy fields, Dodo tells Upward why she loves him - "

Nostalgie de la Boue Nostalgie de la boue (French: "nostalgia for mud") is the attraction to low-life culture, experience, and degradation, found at times both in individuals and in cultural movements. The phrase was coined in 1855 by Émile Augier. Psychological un ...

". Dick and Jack reflect on

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

and the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

in a Kipling-esque ballad - "John Companee" En route for China aboard one of Upward's opium

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

s, Dick persuades Jack and Sally to sample their wares, and they savour a pipe dream of paradise. The Emperor of China tells Victoria to stop the cultivation of poppies, but she replies that the "Bounty of the Earth" is to be shared by every nation. She leaves him alone to lament his son's addiction to the drug. He sends Commissioner Lin to

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

to stamp out the trade. Here, Lin meets Viceroy Teng and his daughter Yoyo who is confused by Europeans - " They All Look the Same To Us". Obadiah refuses to be intimidated by Lin's threats and sends Dick up the coast to seek fresh markets. Victoria joins his crew as an interpreter and Christian missionary and is questioned on her religious scruples. She explains there is a blessed trinity that justifies trade - "Blessed Trinity" (of Civilisation, Commerce and Christianity). Before they leave, Dodo guesses that Sally loves Dick and tells her he is not only her guardian but also her half-brother. The Chinese lay siege to the European compound, and the animals have to be slaughtered for food. Jack sings Randy a last

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...

before killing him - "Rock-A-Bye Randy" In the war that follows, the Chinese are defeated and surrender Hong Kong Island. Dodo and Upward sing of how the British and French soldiers sacked the Imperial Summer Palace in Peking - "Rat-a-Tat-Tat". Though there are dark and savage undertones to this fairy tale, in the end, most of the British live happily ever after, and it is the Chinese who learn to know their place.

Musical numbers

Act One * "The Emperor's Greeting" * "Dunroamin-on-the-Down" * "Whoa, Boy" * "The Good Old Days" * "Why Must I?" * "In These Chambers" * "If You Want to Make a Killing" * "Nostalgie de la Boue" * "John Companee" * "Poppy" Act Two * "China Clipper" * "The Bounty of the Earth" * "The Emperor's Lament" * "China Sequence" * "They All Look the Same To Us" * "The Blessed Trinity" (Civilisation, Commerce and Christianity) * "Sir Richard's Song" * "Rock-A-Bye Randy" * "The Dragon Dance" * "Rat-a-Tat-Tat" * "Finale"

Production history

''Poppy'' premiered on 25 September 1982 at the Barbican Centre performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. That year, it won the Society of West End Theatre Award for best new musical. On 14 November 1983, the play was moved to the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

and ran until 18 February 1984. The show was revived in December 1988 at the now-closed

Half Moon Theatre The Half Moon Theatre Company was formed in 1972 in a rented synagogue in Alie Street, Whitechapel, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ''Half Moon Passage'' was the name of a nearby alley. The founders, Michael Irving and Maurice Colbourn ...

(with Louise Gold as

), in 1997 by student group UKC Dramatics at the

Gulbenkian Theatre , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, in 1998 by the

Chelsea Players Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament c ...

, and again in March 2005 by the Italia Conti Academy at the Landor Theatre. A 'script-in-hand' performance was given as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th Birthday Celebrations on 9 July 2011, directed by

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include '' Shoppi ...

, with both Peter Nichols and

in the audience.

Original cast

External links

''Poppy''
at The Guide to Musical Theatre

from the Chelsea Players

by Christine Youssef
Data record of ''Poppy'' at the Barbican
from the Royal Shakespeare Company Performance Database
Data record of ''Poppy'' at the Adelphi
from the Royal Shakespeare Company Performance Database *

Nightingale, Benedict William Benedict Herbert Nightingale (born 14 May 1939) is a British journalist, formerly a regular theatre critic for ''The Times'' newspaper. He was educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College, Cambridge. His first published theatre revie ...

"A Colonial Spoof on the London Stage"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 24, 1982 {{OlivierAward Musical 1976–2000 1982 musicals West End musicals Musicals inspired by real-life events Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals Pantomime British musicals Works about opium First Opium War