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The dramatist and author W. S. Gilbert wrote approximately 80 dramatic works during his career, as well as light verse, short stories and other works. He is best remembered for his series of 14 libretti for his joint operatic works with the composer Arthur Sullivan, but many of his other dramatic works were popular successes.[1]
In the following list, the title of each work appears in the first column, along with any further information (such as the source of an adaptation). The genre appears in the second column, and if the piece had music, the composer's name is listed in parentheses. The theatre and date of first performance appear in the third and fourth columns. All theatres were in London, unless otherwise stated. The works are listed in the approximate order of composition. (In a few cases, the first performance was many years after the work was first published.)
| Title | Genre | Theatre | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncle Baby | One-Act Comedietta | Lyceum Theatre | 1863-10-31 |
| Ruy Blas [published in Warne's Christmas Annual, 1866, based on the Victor Hugo drama, Ruy Blas.] | Burlesque | unperformed | N/A |
| Hush-a-Bye, Baby, on the Tree Top; or, Harlequin Fortunia, King Frog of Frog Island, and the Magic Toys of Lowther Arcade [written with Chas. Millard] | Pantomime | Astley's | 1866-12-26 |
| Dulcamara! or, The Little Duck and the Great Quack [parody of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore] | Extravaganza | St. James's Theatre | 1866-12-29 |
| La Vivandière; or, True to the Corps! [parody of Donizetti's La fille du régiment] | Extravaganza | St. James's Hall, Liverpool | 1867-06-15 |
| Robinson Crusoe; or, The Injun Bride and the Injured Wife [written with H. J. Byron, Tom Hood, H. S. Leigh and Arthur Sketchley] | Burlesque | Haymarket | 1867-07-06 |
| Allow Me To Explain | One-Act Farce | Prince of Wales's Theatre | 1867-11-04 |
| Highly Improbable | One-Act Farce | Royalty Theatre | 1867-12-05 |
| A Colossal Idea [first pub. 1932] | One-Act Farce | unperformed | N/A |
| Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid | Pantomime | Lyceum | 1867-12-26 |
| The Merry Zingara; or, The Tipsy Gipsy and the Pipsy Wipsy [parody of Balfe's The Bohemian Girl] | Extravaganza | Royalty | 1868-03-21 |
| Robert the Devil; or, The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun [parody of Meyerbeer's Robert le diable] | Extravaganza | Gaiety Theatre | 1868-12-21 |
| No Cards | One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed/"Lionel Elliott"?) | Gallery of Illustration | 1869-03-29 |
| The Pretty Druidess; or, The Mother, the Maid, and the Mistletoe Bough [parody of Bellini's Norma] | Extravaganza | Charing Cross Theatre | 1869-06-19 |
| An Old Score [revived as Quits] | Three-Act Comedy | Gaiety | 1869-07-26 |
| Ages Ago | One-Act Musical Entertainment (Frederic Clay) | Gallery of Illustration | 1869-11-22 |
| A Medical Man [published in Clement Scott's Drawing-Room Plays (1870)] | One-Act Farce | St. George's Hall | 1872-10-24 |
| The Princess [based on Tennyson's poem] | Blank-Verse Parody | Olympic Theatre | 1870-01-08 |
| The Gentleman in Black | Two-Act Musical Play (Frederic Clay) | Charing Cross | 1870-05-26 |
| Our Island Home | One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed) | Gallery of Illustration | 1870-06-20 |
| The Palace of Truth | Three-Act Fairy Comedy | Haymarket | 1870-11-19 |
| The Brigands [translated and adapted from Les brigands by Meilhac and Halévy; published by Boosey, 1871] | Three-Act Comic Opera (Jacques Offenbach) | Theatre Royal, Plymouth | 1889-09-02 |
| Randall's Thumb | Three-Act Comedy | Court Theatre | 1871-01-25 |
| A Sensation Novel | Musical Entertainment in Three "Volumes" (Thomas German Reed) | Gallery of Illustration | 1871-01-30 |
| Creatures of Impulse | One-Act Musical Play (Alberto Randegger) | Court | 1871-04-28 |
| Great Expectations [adapted from the Dickens novel] | Drama | Court | 1871-05-29 |
| On Guard[2] | Three-Act Melodramatic Comedy | Court | 1871-10-28 |
| Pygmalion and Galatea | Three-Act Fairy Comedy | Haymarket | 1871-12-09 |
| Thespis; or, The Gods Grown Old | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) | Gaiety | 1871-12-26 |
| Happy Arcadia | One-Act Musical Entertainment (Frederic Clay) |
Gallery of Illustration | 1872-10-28 |
| The Wicked World | Three-Act Fairy Comedy | Haymarket | 1873-01-04 |
| The Happy Land [written as F. Tomline, with Gilbert à Beckett] | Two-Act Burlesque of The Wicked World | Court | 1873-03-03 |
| The Realm of Joy [written as F. Latour Tomline: freely adapted from Le Roi Candaule by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy; title changed after a few nights to The Realms of Joy] | One-Act Farce | Royalty | 1873-10-18 |
| The Wedding March [written as F. Latour Tomline: translated from Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie by Eugène Labiche][1] | Three-Act Farce | Court | 1873-11-15 |
| Charity | Four-Act Drama | Haymarket | 1874-01-03 |
| Ought We To Visit Her? [adapted from the novel by Annie Edwardes][3] | Three-Act Drama | Royalty | 1874-01-17 |
| Committed For Trial [written as F. Latour Tomline: translated from Le Réveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy] | Two-Act Farce | Globe Theatre | 1874-01-24 |
| The Blue-Legged Lady [no author named: translated from La Dame aux Jambes d'Azur by Eugène Labiche and Marc-Michel] | One-Act Farce | Court | 1874-03-04 |
| Topsyturveydom | One-Act Extravaganza (Alfred Cellier) |
Criterion Theatre | 1874-03-21 |
| Sweethearts | Two-Act Comedy | Prince of Wales's Theatre | 1874-11-07 |
| Rosencrantz and Guildenstern [published in Fun, December 1874] | Burlesque in Three Short "Tableaux" | Vaudeville Theatre | 1891-06-03 |
| Trial by Jury | One-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Royalty | 1875-03-25 |
| Tom Cobb; or, Fortune's Toy | Three-Act Farce | St. James's | 1875-04-24 |
| Eyes and No Eyes; or, The Art of Seeing | One-Act Musical Entertainment (Thomas German Reed) | St. George's Hall | 1875-07-05 |
| Broken Hearts | Three-Act Verse Drama | Court | 1875-12-09 |
| Princess Toto | Three-Act Comic Opera (Frederic Clay) | Theatre Royal, Nottingham | 1876-06-24 |
| Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith | Three-Act Drama | Haymarket | 1876-09-11 |
| On Bail [revised version of Committed for Trial] | Three-Act Farce | Criterion | 1877-02-03 |
| Engaged | Three-Act Farcical Comedy | Haymarket | 1877-10-03 |
| The Sorcerer | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Opera Comique | 1877-11-17 |
| The Forty Thieves [written with Robert Reece, F. C. Burnand, and H. J. Byron; three performances for charity] | Pantomime | Gaiety | 1878-02-13 |
| The Ne'er-Do-Weel [rewritten and restaged three weeks later as The Vagabond] | Three-Act Drama | Olympic | 1878-02-25 |
| H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass that Loved a Sailor | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Opera Comique | 1878-05-25 |
| Gretchen [based on Goethe's Faust] | Four-Act Verse Tragedy | Olympic | 1879-03-24 |
| Lord Mayor's Day [translated from La Cagnotte by Eugène Labiche. Gilbert translated the first two acts, but was not credited.] | Three-Act Farce | Folly Theatre | 1879-06-30 |
| The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Bijou, Paignton; Fifth Avenue, NY; and Opera Comique | 1879-12-30 & 1879-12-31 |
| Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Opera Comique | 1881-04-23 |
| Foggerty's Fairy | Three-Act Farce | Criterion | 1881-12-15 |
| Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy Theatre | 1882-11-25 |
| Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant [revised version of The Princess] | Three-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1884-01-05 |
| Comedy and Tragedy | One-Act Drama | Lyceum | 1884-01-26 |
| The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1885-03-14 |
| Ruddygore; or, The Witch's Curse [retitled Ruddigore after a few days] | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1887-01-22 |
| The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and his Maid | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1888-03-10 |
| Brantinghame Hall | Four-Act Drama | St. James's | 1888-11-29 |
| The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1889-07-12 |
| The Mountebanks | Two-Act Comic Opera (Alfred Cellier) |
Lyric Theatre | 1892-01-04 |
| Haste to the Wedding [operatic version of The Wedding March] | Three-Act Comic Opera (George Grossmith) |
Criterion | 1892-07-27 |
| Utopia (Limited); or, The Flowers of Progress [retitled Utopia Limited after a few days] | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1893-10-07 |
| His Excellency | Two-Act Comic Opera (F. Osmond Carr) |
Lyric | 1894-10-27 |
| The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel | Two-Act Comic Opera (Arthur Sullivan) |
Savoy | 1896-03-07 |
| The Fortune Hunter | Three-Act Drama | Theatre Royal, Birmingham | 1897-09-27 |
| Harlequin and the Fairy's Dilemma [retitled The Fairy's Dilemma after a few days] | Two-Act Domestic Pantomime | Garrick Theatre | 1904-05-03 |
| Fallen Fairies; or, The Wicked World [operatic version of The Wicked World] | Two-Act Comic Opera (Edward German) |
Savoy | 1909-12-15 |
| The Hooligan | One-Act Drama | London Coliseum | 1911-02-27 |
| Trying a Dramatist; [published in Original Plays, Fourth Series (1911)][4] | One-Act Sketch | unknown | unknown |
