Opera Scotland

Trial by Jury 2025Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury is the first ork by Gilbert and Sullivan to survive.  It was commissioned by Richard D'Oyly Carte in 1875.  In those days it was the convention to perform a short 'curtain-raiser' before the main event of the theatrical evening.  Sometimes an 'after-piece' would be employed.  D'Oyly Carte had brought Offenbach's La Périchole from Paris, and Trial, beginning the evening's entertainment, soon overtook the import in popularity.  Its success led to the commissioning of the famous series of G & S comic operas over the next twenty years.

During the 20th century, Trial by Jury continued to be played by the D'Oyly Carte company, usually, though not always, before H M S Pinafore.  There have also been attempts by other companies to partner it with non-G & S works, though no partnerships have become established.

For this collaboration between Scottish Opera, Holland Park and D'Oyly Carte, a new comic work titled A Matter of Misconduct! has been commissioned from Emma Jenkins and Scottish Opera Emerging Artist Toby Hession, who also conducts the evening.

The cast includes veteran Gilbert and Sullivan exponent Richard Suart as the Judge.  An intriguing novelty sees the Counsel for the Plaintiff played by a woman, something that could not have been possible in Victorian times.  Kira Kaplan, cast as the Plaintiff, is one of the new crop of Scottish Opera's Emerging Artists.