RUDDIGORE
Wilton's Music Hall
March 14th - 25th 2023
BOX OFFICE : 020 7702 2789
Booking Opens 10th October 2022
RUDDIGORE
The tenth collaboration between Gilbert & Sullivan
found them at the height of their powers.
THE MIKADO had been the most recent of a string of runaway successes including HMS PINAFORE, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and IOLANTHE and this parody of stage melodrama has all the ingredients of their previous hits : rapid-fire patter songs; romantic ballads shot through with ironic humour and a dash of comic pathos.
Gilbert was as mischievous as ever and as one reviewer noted “Gilbert turns the moral absolutes of melodrama upside down: Good becomes bad and bad becomes good”.
The humour is unmistakably Gilbertian topsy-turvy throughout but the unique element in RUDDIGORE is the way in which Sullivan’s music for the famous ghost scene in Act Two can produce genuine, spine-tingling chills. Moments later, the ghosts are delivering witty one-liners. Where else would you find such audacity? And where else will you find a troupe of bridesmaids on duty from 10 till 4 every day, just in case…
WILTON'S
Music Hall
"A MAGICAL VENUE" Evening Standard
Described by The Royal Institute of British Architects as a “Great British Building”,
this rediscovered gem won their BUILDING OF THE YEAR 2016
following its unique restoration project,
which opted to retain the outward signs of the passing of time.
It’s unlike any other London theatre and to step into Wilton’s is to enter another era.
To see a show there is an unforgettable experience.
The adventurous programming has ranged from Fiona Shaw performing TS Eliot and Harry Hill doing stand-up to the sold out runs of Gilbert & Sullivan’s IOLANTHE and
HMS PINAFORE. When live performances of the production of Britten’s TURN OF THE SCREW, conducted by John Wilson were covid-cancelled, the director turned the entire venue into a space where ghosts roamed freely for an acclaimed BBC TV film.
"A place that casts a glow around anything that's put on there" GUARDIAN
"The most important surviving early music hall to be seen anywhere... It is of outstanding architectural and archaeological significance" THE THEATRES TRUST
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Why Wilton's for RUDDIGORE?
"Wilton's is a one of its kind in London and indeed the UK" David Suchet
Gilbert and Sullivan have proven sure-fire winners at Wilton’s
with Opera della Luna, Charles Court Opera and Sasha Regan’s
All Male company each having played here with great success.
Director, Peter Benedict says “I knew that one day, I had to make RUDDIGORE
happen here, in London’s most atmospheric performance venue.
The audience will need little encouragement to imagine themselves in a place where ghosts emerge from portraits, sailors dance hornpipes and it’s the most natural thing in the world for characters to sing faster than you’d think humanly possible.
The moment you arrive at the door of Wilton’s you know you’re in for a very special sort of evening and I’m privileged to be presenting this classic musical comedy in such a special place – one in which it’s going to feel very much at home”.
"This theatre is a national treasure" Cate Blanchett
A Unique Event
Surprise your clients and staff with this unusual corporate hospitality opportunity or become a sponsor and take your profile and support for the arts and community into a new and rewarding area.
Packages start from as little as £750
Request information : info@peterbenedict.co.uk
