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Overview
Synopsis
All of the maidens in the village are besotted with Reginald Bunthorne, a moody and handsome poet, but he has eyes only for the simple milkmaid, Patience. The problem? Bunthorne’s artistic ways are all just an act to attract women to him--he doesn’t even like poetry! Besides, Patience is in love with her childhood sweetheart, who happens to be a real poet named Archibald Grosvenor, but feels she cannot marry him because he is just too perfect. In the meantime, the serious (and decidedly non-poetic) platoon of Heavy Dragoon Guards that were meant to marry the village maidens find themselves dismayed and perplexed by their sudden loss of prospects. One of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most successful shows, Patience is a rollicking satire that pits the straight-laced ideals of the Victorian era against the passions and indulgences of the 1870s Aesthetic Movement, ridiculing each side of the spectrum.
Show Information
- Book
- W.S. Gilbert
- Music
- Arthur Sullivan
- Lyrics
- W.S. Gilbert
- Category
- Operetta
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 1881
- Genres
- Comedy, Satire
- Settings
- Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- 1870s
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- Medium
- Dancing
- Some Dance
- Ideal For
- Mostly Male Cast, Includes Young Adult, Adult, Mature Adult, Late Teen Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
|
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Silent |
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
|
Songs
Overture
Act I
- 1. "Twenty love-sick maidens we" (Angela, Ella and Chorus of Maidens)
- 2. "Still brooding on their mad infatuation" (Patience, Saphir, Angela, and Chorus)
- 2a. "I cannot tell what this love may be" (Patience and Chorus)
- 2b. "Twenty love-sick maidens we" (Chorus of Maidens - Exit)
- 3. "The soldiers of our Queen" (Chorus of Dragoons)
- 3a. "If you want a receipt for that popular mystery" (Colonel and Chorus)
- 4. "In a doleful train two and two we walk" (Angela, Ella, Saphir, Bunthorne, and Chorus of Maidens and Dragoons)
- 4a. "Twenty love-sick maidens we" (Chorus of Maidens - Exit)
- 5. "When I first put this uniform on" (Colonel and Chorus of Dragoons)
- 6. "Am I alone and unobserved?" (Bunthorne)
- 7. "Long years ago, fourteen maybe" (Patience and Angela)
- 8. "Prithee, pretty maiden" (Patience and Grosvenor)
- 8a. "Though to marry you would very selfish be" (Patience and Grosvenor)
- 9. "Let the merry cymbals sound" (Ensemble)
Act II
- 10. "On such eyes as maidens cherish" (Chorus of Maidens)
- 11. "Sad is that woman's lot" (Jane)
- 12. "Turn, oh turn, in this direction" (Chorus of Maidens)
- 13. "A magnet hung in a hardware shop" (Grosvenor and Chorus of Maidens)
- 14. "Love is a plaintive song" (Patience)
- 15. "So go to him, and say to him" (Jane and Bunthorne)
- 16. "It's clear that mediaeval art" (Duke, Major, and Colonel)
- 17. "If Saphir I choose to marry" (Angela, Saphir, Duke, Major, and Colonel)
- 18. "When I go out of door" (Bunthorne and Grosvenor)
- 19. "I'm a Waterloo House young man" (Grosvenor and Chorus of Maidens)
- 20. "After much debate internal" (Ensemble)
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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