The Sorcerer is the earliest surviving full-length Gilbert and Sullivan opera. Its highly improbable plot tells the story of an English village turned upside down by a well meaning guardsman who engages a quack magician to intoxicate the villagers. Borrowing plot and music from grand opera, the show uses the device of a village tea party to administer a love potion. Needless to say, the results were somewhat surprising!
All photographs taken by Mike Shanks