Opera Scotland

Arcadians The Arcadians

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Music

Howard Talbot

Lionel Monckton

Text

Mark Ambient (book)

Alexander M Thompson (book)

Arthur Wimperis (Lyrics)

 

Premieres

First Performance:  London (Shaftesbury Theatre),  28 April 1909.

First Performance in Scotland: tbc.

 

Background

The Arcadians was one of the most successful musical comedies of the Edwardian era, providing useful escapist entertainment during the First World War.

The mythical land of Arcadia was a popular subject in Victorian times, with its emphasis on nymphs and shepherds.  The idea was satirised by Gilbert and Sullivan in Iolanthe, in which the leading characters of Strephon and Phyllis are an Arcadian shepherd and shepherdess.

 

Main Characters

James Smith, later Simplicitas

Mrs James Smith

Peter Doody, a jockey

Jack Meadows

Eileen Cavanagh

Sombra, an Arcadian