The renowned Illyria Theatre Company is set to perform the popular Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Ruddigore in the beautiful setting of Rothay Park. on the evening of Friday 15 July. Ruddigore is a comic opera in two acts, and is the tenth of 14 comic operas written together by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert.
Set in the town of Rederring in Cornwall, Robin Oakapple, a shy young farmer, loves Rose Maybud, a prim student of etiquette. Eventually he summons the courage to ask for her hand in marriage. But at the wedding it is revealed that Robin is really Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, heir to the ancestral pile of Ruddigore and consequently subject to its attendant curse: that each Lord of Ruddigore must do an evil deed, every day, or else die an agonising death.

Rose is horrified and offers herself in marriage to his younger brother. But how will Robin/Sir Ruthven win her back? And how can he avoid perpetrating crimes on a daily basis? When an army of long-dead ancestors emerge from dusty portraits to demand his death might there be some kind of loophole by which he could avoid the ghoulish onslaught, dodge the terms of the curse and marry the girl of his dreams?

Gilbert & Sullivan’s glorious spoof of gothic haunted-house stories gets the complete Illyria treatment, faithfully performed by a reduced cast and accompanied by a Musical Director on keyboard. Despite the reduction in scale not a single word from WS Gilbert’s libretto is cut, nor a single note or harmony from Sir Arthur Sullivan’s score unsung.

Following the runaway popularity of HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, The Pirates of Penzance, and Iolanthe,Illyria celebrates its quarter-century with another romantic summer opera to leave you with a haunting song in your heart!

Gates open at 6pm