List of W. S. Gilbert dramatic works
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The dramatist and author W. S. Gilbert wrote approximately 80 dramatic works during his career, as well as light verse, short stories and other works. He is best remembered for his series of 14 libretti for his joint operatic works with the composer Arthur Sullivan, but many of his other dramatic works were popular successes.Stedman, Jane W. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33400 "Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck (1836–1911)"], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004, online edition, May 2008, accessed 10 January 2010 {{ODNBsub}}
List
In the following list, the title of each work appears in the first column, along with any further information (such as the source of an adaptation). The genre appears in the second column, and if the piece had music, the composer's name is listed in parentheses. The theatre and date of first performance appear in the third and fourth columns. All theatres were in London, unless otherwise stated. The works are listed in the approximate order of composition. (In a few cases, the first performance was many years after the work was first published.)
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Title | Genre | Theatre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncle Baby
|One-Act Comedietta |1863-10-31 | |||
| Ruy Blas [published in Warne's Christmas Annual, 1866, based on the Victor Hugo drama, Ruy Blas.]
|unperformed |N/A | |||
| Hush-a-Bye, Baby, on the Tree Top; or, Harlequin Fortunia, King Frog of Frog Island, and the Magic Toys of Lowther Arcade [written with Chas. Millard]
|Astley's |nowrap|1866-12-26 | |||
| Dulcamara! or, The Little Duck and the Great Quack [parody of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore]
|1866-12-29 | |||
| La Vivandière; or, True to the Corps! [parody of Donizetti's La fille du régiment]
|Extravaganza |St. James's Hall, Liverpool |1867-06-15 | |||
| Robinson Crusoe; or, The Injun Bride and the Injured Wife [written with H. J. Byron, Tom Hood, H. S. Leigh and Arthur Sketchley]
|Burlesque |1867-07-06 | |||
| Allow Me to Explain
|One-Act Farce |1867-11-04 | |||
| Highly Improbable
|One-Act Farce |1867-12-05 | |||
| A Colossal Idea [first pub. 1932]
|One-Act Farce |unperformed |N/A | |||
| Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid
|Lyceum |1867-12-26 | |||
| The Merry Zingara; or, The Tipsy Gipsy and the Pipsy Wipsy [parody of Balfe's The Bohemian Girl]
|Extravaganza |Royalty |1868-03-21 | |||
| Robert the Devil; or, The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun [parody of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable]
|Extravaganza |1868-12-21 | |||
| No Cards
|One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed/"Lionel Elliott"?) |1869-03-29 | |||
| The Pretty Druidess; or, The Mother, the Maid, and the Mistletoe Bough [parody of Bellini's Norma]
|Extravaganza |1869-06-19 | |||
| An Old Score [revived as Quits]
|Three-Act Comedy |Gaiety |1869-07-26 | |||
| Ages Ago
|One-Act Musical Entertainment (Frederic Clay) |Gallery of Illustration |1869-11-22 | |||
| A Medical Man [published in Clement Scott's Drawing-Room Plays (1870)]
|One-Act Farce |1872-10-24 | |||
| The Princess [based on Tennyson's poem]
|Blank-Verse Parody |1870-01-08 | |||
| The Gentleman in Black
|Two-Act Musical Play (Frederic Clay) |Charing Cross |1870-05-26 | |||
| Our Island Home
|One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed) |Gallery of Illustration |1870-06-20 | |||
| The Palace of Truth
|Three-Act Fairy Comedy |Haymarket |1870-11-19 | |||
| The Brigands [translated and adapted from Les brigands by Meilhac and Halévy; published by Boosey, 1871]
|Three-Act Comic Opera (Jacques Offenbach) |Theatre Royal, Plymouth |1889-09-02 | |||
| Randall's Thumb
|Three-Act Comedy |1871-01-25 | |||
| A Sensation Novel
|Musical Entertainment in Three "Volumes" (Thomas German Reed) |Gallery of Illustration |1871-01-30 | |||
| Creatures of Impulse
|One-Act Musical Play (Alberto Randegger) |Court |1871-04-28 | |||
| Great Expectations [adapted from the Dickens novel]
|Drama |Court |1871-05-29 | |||
| On Guard[https://www.gsarchive.net/gilbert/plays/on_guard/on_guard.html Link to the libretto of On Guard and review] in The Times, Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 25 November 2009
|Three-Act Melodramatic Comedy |Court |1871-10-28 | |||
| Pygmalion and Galatea
|Three-Act Fairy Comedy |Haymarket |1871-12-09 | |||
| Thespis; or, The Gods Grown Old
|Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |1871-12-26 | |||
| Happy Arcadia
|One-Act Musical Entertainment |Gallery of Illustration |1872-10-28 | |||
| The Wicked World
|Three-Act Fairy Comedy |Haymarket |1873-01-04 | |||
| The Happy Land [written as F. Tomline, with Gilbert à Beckett]
|Two-Act Burlesque of The Wicked World |Court |1873-03-03 | |||
| The Realm of Joy [written as F. Latour Tomline: freely adapted from Le Roi Candaule by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy; title changed after a few nights to The Realms of Joy]
|One-Act Farce |Royalty |1873-10-18 | |||
| The Wedding March [written as F. Latour Tomline: translated from Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie by Eugène Labiche][https://web.archive.org/web/20110720091320/http://narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewitem.pl?item=5495]
|Three-Act Farce |Court |1873-11-15 | |||
| Charity
|Four-Act Drama |Haymarket |1874-01-03 | |||
| Ought We To Visit Her? [adapted from the novel by Annie Edwardes]Trutt, David. [http://gsarchive.net/trutt/GilbertBooks/OughtWeToVisitHer.html "Ought We To Visit Her?"] at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 10 September 2010
|Three-Act Drama |Royalty |1874-01-17 | |||
| Committed For Trial [written as F. Latour Tomline: translated from Le Réveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy]
|Two-Act Farce |1874-01-24 | |||
| The Blue-Legged Lady [no author named: translated from La Dame aux Jambes d'Azur by Eugène Labiche and Marc-Michel]
|One-Act Farce |Court |1874-03-04 | |||
| Topsyturveydom
|One-Act Extravaganza |1874-03-21 | |||
| Sweethearts
|Two-Act Comedy |Prince of Wales's Theatre |1874-11-07 | |||
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern [published in Fun, December 1874]
|Burlesque in Three Short "Tableaux" |1891-06-03 | |||
| Trial by Jury
|One-Act Comic Opera |Royalty |1875-03-25 | |||
| Tom Cobb; or, Fortune's Toy
|Three-Act Farce |St. James's |1875-04-24 | |||
| Eyes and No Eyes; or, The Art of Seeing
|One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed) |St. George's Hall |1875-07-05 | |||
| Broken Hearts
|Three-Act Verse Drama |Court |1875-12-09 | |||
| Princess Toto
|Three-Act Comic Opera (Frederic Clay) |Theatre Royal, Nottingham |1876-06-24 | |||
| Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith
|Three-Act Drama |Haymarket |1876-09-11 | |||
| On Bail [revised version of Committed for Trial]
|Three-Act Farce |Criterion |1877-02-03 | |||
| Engaged
|Three-Act Farcical Comedy |Haymarket |1877-10-03 | |||
| The Sorcerer
|Two-Act Comic Opera |1877-11-17 | |||
| The Forty Thieves [written with Robert Reece, F. C. Burnand, and H. J. Byron; three performances for charity]
|Pantomime |Gaiety |1878-02-13 | |||
| The Ne'er-Do-Weel [rewritten and restaged three weeks later as The Vagabond]
|Three-Act Drama |Olympic |1878-02-25 | |||
| H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass that Loved a Sailor
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Opera Comique |1878-05-25 | |||
| Gretchen [based on Goethe's Faust]
|Four-Act Verse Tragedy |Olympic |1879-03-24 | |||
| Lord Mayor's Day [translated from La Cagnotte by Eugène Labiche. Gilbert translated the first two acts, but was not credited.]
|Three-Act Farce |1879-06-30 | |||
| The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Bijou, Paignton; Fifth Avenue, NY; and Opera Comique |1879-12-30 & 1879-12-31 | |||
| Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Opera Comique |1881-04-23 | |||
| Foggerty's Fairy
|Three-Act Farce |Criterion |1881-12-15 | |||
| Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri
|Two-Act Comic Opera |1882-11-25 | |||
| Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant [revised version of The Princess]
|Three-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1884-01-05 | |||
| Comedy and Tragedy
|One-Act Drama |Lyceum |1884-01-26 | |||
| The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1885-03-14 | |||
| Ruddygore; or, The Witch's Curse [retitled Ruddigore after a few days]
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1887-01-22 | |||
| The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and his Maid
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1888-03-10 | |||
| Brantinghame Hall
|Four-Act Drama |St. James's |1888-11-29 | |||
| The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1889-07-12 | |||
| The Mountebanks
|Two-Act Comic Opera |1892-01-04 | |||
| Haste to the Wedding [operatic version of The Wedding March]
|Three-Act Comic Opera |Criterion |1892-07-27 | |||
| Utopia (Limited); or, The Flowers of Progress [retitled Utopia Limited after a few days]
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1893-10-07 | |||
| His Excellency
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Lyric |1894-10-27 | |||
| The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1896-03-07 | |||
| The Fortune Hunter
|Three-Act Drama |1897-09-27 | |||
| Harlequin and the Fairy's Dilemma [retitled The Fairy's Dilemma after a few days]
|Two-Act Domestic Pantomime |1904-05-03 | |||
| Fallen Fairies; or, The Wicked World [operatic version of The Wicked World]
|Two-Act Comic Opera |Savoy |1909-12-15 | |||
| The Hooligan
|One-Act Drama |1911-02-27 | |||
| Trying a Dramatist; [published in Original Plays, Fourth Series (1911)]Trutt, David. [http://gsarchive.net/trutt/GilbertBooks/TryingADramatist.html "Trying A Dramatist by W. S. Gilbert"] at the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 10 September 2010
|One-Act Sketch |unknown |unknown |
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Ainger|first=Michael|year=2002|title=Gilbert and Sullivan – A Dual Biography|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
- {{cite book|last=Crowther|first=Andrew|year=2000|title=Contradiction Contradicted – The Plays of W. S. Gilbert|publisher=Associated University Presses|isbn=0-8386-3839-2}}
- {{cite book|last=Stedman|first=Jane W.|year=1996|title=W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-816174-3}}
- {{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=W. S.|year=1969|editor=Jane W. Stedman |title=Gilbert Before Sullivan – Six Comic Plays by W. S. Gilbert|location=Chicago|publisher=The University of Chicago Press}}
External links
{{wikisourcepar|Author:W. S. Gilbert}}
- {{gutenberg author| id=395| name=W. S. Gilbert}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080509083446/http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/other_gilbert/html/other_gilbert.html List of Gilbert's works at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive]
{{Gilbert and Sullivan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, W. S.}}
Category:Bibliographies by writer