''The Palace of Truth'' is a three-act

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

"Fairy Comedy" by

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

first produced at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

in London on 19 November 1870, adapted in significant part from

Madame de Genlis Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

's fairy story, ''Le Palais de Vérite''. The play ran for approximately 140 performances and then toured the British provinces and enjoyed various revivals even well into the 20th century. There was also a New York production in 1910. After more than a century of inquiry, researchers in 2012 concluded that the three

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...

s were named after characters in ''The Palace of Truth'' in 1870 by British zoologist

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for ...

Background

Gilbert created several blank verse "fairy comedies" at the

for actor-manager

John Baldwin Buckstone John Baldwin Buckstone (14 September 1802 – 31 October 1879) was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826. He starred as a comic actor during much of his career for various periods ...

and starring

William Hunter Kendal William Hunter Kendal (16 December 1843 – 7 November 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. He and his wife Madge starred at the Haymarket in Shakespearian revivals and the old English comedies beginning in the 1860s. In the 1870s, ...

and his wife

Madge Robertson Kendal Dame Madge Kendal, (born Margaret Shafto Robertson; 15 March 1848 – 14 September 1935) was an English actress of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for her roles in Shakespeare and English comedies. Together with her husband, W. ...

(sister of the playwright Tom Robertson) in the early 1870s. These plays, influenced by the fairy works of

James Planché James Robinson Planché (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including ...

, are founded upon the idea of self-revelation by characters under the influence of some magic or supernatural interference. ''The Palace of Truth'' was the first of these, followed by '' Pygmalion and Galatea'' (1871), a satire of sentimental, romantic attitudes toward myth, ''

The Wicked World ''The Wicked World'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts. It opened at the Haymarket Theatre on 1873 and ran for a successful 145 performances, closing on 1873. The play is an allegory loosely based on a short illustrated st ...

'' (1873), and ''

Broken Hearts ''Broken Hearts'' is a blank verse play by W. S. Gilbert in three acts styled "An entirely original fairy play". It opened at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 December 1875, running for three months, and toured the provinces in 1876. It wa ...

'' (1875). At the same time, Gilbert wrote some dramas, including '' Sweethearts'' (1874) and ''

Charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

'' (1874), all of which helped to established his artistic credentials as a writer of wide range, who was as comfortable with human drama as with the comedies for which he is most famous. WSGyounger

Although ''The Palace of Truth'' has substantial comic elements, it has the structure and feel of a drama. The play was one of Gilbert's most successful works prior to his collaboration with

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

. The play ran for approximately 140 performances at the Haymarket, a long run at the time, and then toured. Gilbert was paid 4 guineas per night until February 1871 and 2 guineas thereafter. On tour, Gilbert's royalty was 3 guineas a night. Some of Gilbert's later works drew on ''The Palace of Truth'' for plot elements or their logical development, including his hit play, ''

Engaged An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

'' (1877), where characters say openly what would ordinarily be hidden and admit what, in Victorian society, would be inadmissible. Gilbert and

Edward German Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of En ...

discussed making ''The Palace of Truth'' into an opera, but after the failure of ''

Fallen Fairies ''Fallen Fairies''; ''or, The Wicked World'', is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Edward German. The story is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873 blank-verse fairy comedy, '' The Wicked World''. In Fairy ...

'', the idea was abandoned. Some of the satire of the piece is aimed at musicians. An exchange in the piece, where the character of Zoram, the court composer and a

poseur A poseur is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group.

, makes the following complicated musical remark, was tried out by Gilbert on his future collaborator,

, some months before the play was produced (Gilbert had looked up the definition of "harmony" in the Encyclopædia Britannica and translated it into blank-verse, as follows):How, Barry, in ''The Strand Magazine'', July–December 1891
:Believe me, the result would be the same, :Whether your lordship chose to play upon :The simple

tetrachord In music theory, a tetrachord ( el, τετράχορδoν; lat, tetrachordum) is a series of four notes separated by three intervals. In traditional music theory, a tetrachord always spanned the interval of a perfect fourth, a 4:3 frequency propo ...

of Mercury :That knew no

diatonic interval Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pai ...

s, :Or the elaborate dis‑ diapason :(Four tetrachords, and one redundant note), :Embracing in its

perfect consonance In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...

:All simple, double and inverted chords!

Roles and original cast

*King Phanor, a philanderer; likes "yes" men – J. B. Buckstone *Prince Philamir, boyfriend of the Princess; speaks in alliteration – W. H. Kendal *Chrysal, a "yes" man and a lyricist; betrothed to Palmis – Mr. Everill *Zoram, another "yes" man and a composer – Mr. Clark *Aristaeus, an outspoken and truthful man – Mr. Rogers *Gelanor, steward of the Palace of Truth – Mr. Braid *Queen Altemire, a good wife; wants her daughter to be happy – Mrs. Chippendale *Princess Zeolide, young; searching for love and truth –

Madge Kendal Dame Madge Kendal, (born Margaret Shafto Robertson; 15 March 1848 – 14 September 1935) was an English actress of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for her roles in Shakespeare and English comedies. Together with her husband, W. ...

(billed as Miss Robertson) *Mirza, a friend of the Princess; suspicious of the Prince –

Caroline Hill Caroline Lucreza Brook Hill (June 1845 – 1926) was an English actress. She began acting as a child in the company of Samuel Phelps and soon joined the company of J. B. Buckstone at the Haymarket Theatre. There she created roles in several new ...

*Palmis, a lady of the court; in love with Chrysal – Fanny Wright *Azema, timid; a visitor to the Palace of Truth – Fanny Gwynne

Synopsis

Act I – The garden of the King's Country House. The Queen is upset because the Princess is to become engaged tomorrow to the Prince but seems not to love him. The Prince speaks flowery words of love to the Princess. The Queen, jealous, wonders why the King visits the Palace of Truth once a month, while she has never been there in eighteen years of marriage. The King reveals that the palace is enchanted, and every visitor there is bound to speak the truth. The speaker is not aware that he is telling the truth, and it is impossible to keep a secret there. The two decide to bring the Prince and Princess there to find out if they truly love one another. They will also bring all the courtiers. The King tells Gelanor and Mirza that he has a talisman that will keep the holder from having to tell the truth. PalaceofTruthProg

Act II – Inside the Palace of Truth The King is holding the talisman. Everyone else tells the truth: The Princess's singing is terrible; Chrysal did not mean one word that he said at court; Zoram (the composer) doesn't know one note from another, etc. Chrysal and Zoram declare a duel because of the truth they speak. The Prince confesses that at least 500 ladies have kissed him, among other things, and of course the Princess is unhappy. Azema timidly reveals that she wants to try her charms on the Prince. The Prince rejects her, so Azema tries to charm Chrysal. The Prince decides that the palace must be enchanted and shows up human nature as it is and everybody is affected by it, but he doesn't realise that the enchantment affects him. He tells Mirza that he loves her and then reveals this to the Princess. She breaks their bond and gives him his freedom and then pleads with him to take her back and give her until that night. Other characters confess love for each other in strange pairings. After the King reveals that he made love to Mirza in the shrubbery and Mirza admits that she hates the King, he realises that his talisman is not working. Now the King wants to leave! Act III – On the Avenue of Palms at night Chrysal has a sword and is ready for the duel with Zoram. Zoram arrives, and the two combatants tell each other, with great bravado, how afraid they are of each other. Gelanor tells them that the Palace makes one say what he ''thinks''. Zoram and Chrysal decide that thoughts are not important. They shake hands. The Queen talks with old Gelanor, and Azema goes to tell the King of this meeting. The Princess begs Mirza to let her have the Prince, and Mirza says she will do so and then go away. She tells him of her love for him and adds that she is going away. The Princess reenters unobserved, and is moved by Mirza's speech. She goes forward and puts Mirza's hand in the Prince's and sets him free. The Prince gives Mirza a ring as a pledge of his love and wants one in return – a handkerchief or a glove. She brings forth a handkerchief from her pocket and the crystal talisman falls out. Mirza tells him that it is the talisman; she took it from the King and put the false one in its place. The King arrives, and the Prince gives him the talisman. He tells the Queen she has been found with Gelanor. The Queen truthfully says that it was an innocent meeting. The Queen asks the King if he had been philandering with Azema and, because he has the talisman, he is able to lie, denying it. The Queen apologises. The Prince admits that he has been a fool. The King give the talisman to the Prince but he gives it to the Princess, speaks from his heart and kisses her. The Queen breaks the talisman, also ending the enchantment of the palace, and all note the lessons they have learned.

Notes

References

External links

Lengthy synopsis and character descriptions
at the G&S Archive

from ''The Times''.

* ttp://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/potted3.htm Includes information about the playbr>Includes information about a 1905 revival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palace of Truth, The Plays by W. S. Gilbert 1870 plays