THESPIS. Gilbert and Sullivan’s opus 1, THESPIS or, The God’s Groen Old, first appeared at theGaiety Theatre, London on the evening of 26th December 1871 and, as a specifically designed Christmas entertainment was a considerable success playing for 63 consecutive performances and only being removed from the bill at Easter 1872. The piece received one further performance at a benefit for Nellie Farren (the original Mercury). Sadly, despite plans by Richard D’Oyly Carte to revive THESPIS at Christmas 1876, his backers refused to invest money in a revival – they wanted a new work for their money. Consequently, THESPIS never achieved publication.

And so THESPIS rather disappeared from view. The music was never published in full – just two pieces – the chorus “Climbing over Rocky Mountain” which was transferred to PIRATES and a ballad “Little Maid of Arcadee”, published separately in 1872. In the 20th century, the Act Two ballet divertissement was identified incorrectly filed away with the band parts for Sullivan’s 1864 Covent Garden ballet L’ILE ENCHANTÉE. The published libretto too, was woefully inaccurate with missing dialogue, missing lyrics and even a missing character. Unfortunately, although the libretto of THESPIS was included in Series Four of Gilbert’s ‘Original Plays’, published by Chatto and Windus in 1911, Gilbert never read and corrected the proofs as they were sitting on his desk on the day that he died.

There have, of course, been several attempts (20+ in total) to reconstruct THESPIS, the first being in 1953 by Frank Miller, the first cello of the NBC Symphony Orchestra in New York. Some reconstructions have adapted music from other Sullivan works, and others have been reconstructed using freshly composed music.

The first UK reconstruction of THESPIS appeared in 1962 at the University Of London - copyright had prevented any prior UK reconstruction. Dr Terence Rees had researched the opera in depth and had unearthed missing dialogue, the missing character of Venus and evidence for missing musical numbers. A colleague at the university, Garth Morton, was given unprecedented (at that time) access to the D’Oyly Carte Archive and assembled a score using the two extent THESPIS numbers, and music from COX AND BOX, UTOPIA LIMITED, THE GRAND DUKE, HADDON HALL. THE CHIEFTAIN and THE ROSE OF PERSIA, and also an amount of unpublished music from SORCERER and YEOMEN.

That reconstruction held the stage from 1962 until 1983 (a production at Topsham directed by myself), after which the performance material became unusable due to storage in damp conditions – these were the days when photocopy or typesetting we exorbitantly expensive. There was then no viable British reconstruction until the Baker/Henty version of 2008 which, excellent as it is, invalidates itself for me as it employs music from Offenbach’s ORPHÉE AUX ENFERS – something I believe Sullivan would never have sanctioned. Baker/Henty also ignore some of Rees’s research including the character of Venus which they designate as an optional addition.

In 2009 Garth Morton contacted me as he was hoping to revise his reconstruction and publish it professionally in the hope that this would prompt a return to the repertoire for the Rees/Morton version. Sadly, Garth passed away in 2020, but his son, Charles, has acceded to his dying wishes and has published the vocal score through Vandelay Music Press, with performance material to follow.

Garth did make some revisions to his reconstruction before his death and these are present in the new score. Most of these are minor – however, there are three major revisions. 1) the overture which was a typical Sullivan pot-puree, has been replaced with the final movement from Sullivan’s MERCHANT OF VENICE incidental music; 2) the Picnic Music for the slapstick scene, originally the Drawing Room music from UTOPIA is replaced by the a la valse from the ballet L’ILE ENCHANTÉE, and 3) the Railway Song adapted to music from COX AND BOX and always a showstopper, had been replaced by some unidentified music, and the question has to be asked, is this an original composition by Garth or is it something unpublished and found lurking in the D’Oyly Carte Archive? If the latter, is it actually by Sullivan as many other composers provided curtain-raisers and full-length works for the company between 1877 and 1902? The latter revision of course, also impacts the end of the act two finale. However, after discussion with Charles via the publisher, it has been agreed that the original version of all three numbers can be provided as alternatives so that performing companies are able to make the choice. The new publication benefits from spiral binding, which is a boon as it will lie flat on a music stand, desk or table during rehearsal, is printed on high-quality (photographic?) paper, and so is hard-wearing.

Whilst I can fully appreciate the Baker/Henty version, it is invalidated for me due to the inclusion of the Offenbach music. I therefore hope that the St David’s Players will eventually square the circle by presenting the Rees/Morton THESPIS. Square the circle as it presents a burlesque in which a troupe of actors assume the reigns of political power and make a mess of it – just as in THE GRAND DUKE.

Enquiries for this version can be addressed to pitchperfectmusic@live.co.uk. The Rees/Morton libretto can be found on the St David’s website at https://www.stdavidsplayers.co.uk/archive/assets/thespis.pdf.