The Gondoliers

The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company is pleased to announce that it will present The Gondoliers , for four weekends, from October 29 to November 21, 2027. The Gondoliers tells the story of two just-married Venetian gondoliers who are informed by the Grand Inquisitor that one of them has just become the King of Barataria, but only their nursemaid, presently at large, knows which one. As Barataria needs a king to put down unrest in the country, they must travel there immediately to reign jointly, leaving their wives behind in Venice until the nursemaid can be interviewed. It turns out that the king was wed in infancy to the beautiful daughter of the Spanish Duke of Plaza Toro, and so it seems he is an unintentional bigamist. The beautiful daughter, however, is in love with a common servant! When the young Spaniard and the two Venetian wives all show up in Barataria, at the same time, wanting to know which of them is queen, complications arise. In the end, the true identity of the king is revealed, and all is resolved spectacularly. Gilbert’s satire focuses on the snobbery of class distinctions, and with the operetta set far away from Great Britain, Gilbert is emboldened to