The programme described this as "a very free and easy version of the
highly successful Palais Royal Farce, Le Roi Candaule" - which had been
written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy, most well-known today for
being Offenbach's best librettists. However, Gilbert's version was more
than just a quick translation of a popular French farce: he rewrote
parts of it to make it apply to a topical event in which Gilbert himself
had been closely involved.
Le Roi Candaule is set in the box lobby of a theatre where an immoral
play is being performed. In The Realm of Joy, the play is politically
rather than sexually scandalous - a clear reference to The Happy Land,
which Gilbert had co-written earlier the same year and which was still
running on the first night of this piece. The Lord Chamberlain had
briefly banned The Happy Land because of its political satire - thus the
references in this play to "the Lord High Disinfectant".
For both pieces Gilbert used the pseudonym "Tomline", though the
disguise must have been pretty transparent by the time of The Realm of
Joy: He probably used it here as a taunt to the Lord Chamberlain. The
Lord Chamberlain's Office licensed the play despite its provocative
tone, simply to prevent a round of bad publicity like the one which
arose from the Happy Land affair. The Lord Chamberlain told the Examiner
of Plays (William Donne) that it should be passed with "the usual
corrections"; Donne, exasperated, wrote: "What 'the usual corrections'
can be in a piece so utterly incorrigible, and so obviously meant to be
an official, if not a personal insult, passes my understanding...." But
he passed it, nonetheless.
During the play's run, the title was changed to Realms of Joy.
Page created 2 Feb 1997