Utopia, Limited, or The Flowers of Progress

Utopia, Limited, or The Flowers of Progress is a Savoy opera[1]]s by W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)[2] and Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)[3]

Initially called Utopia (Limited), though the title was later changed to Utopia, Limited (sometimes written Utopia, Ltd), the name by which it is generally known.

The original text

The play is a satire of a range of matters such as limited liability companies, the Joint Stock Company Act and the cultural aspects of imperialism. Performed by the D'Oyly Carte Company, it opened in the Savoy Theatre, London, on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances, but did not achieve the spectacular success of most of their earlier productions. However it was widely performed in the British provinces, America and elsewhere over the next few decades.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1902-3: Performed in South Africa by the visiting D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as part of their repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan works, presented over the course of two seasons.

1984: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society, directed by Helen Houghton, in the Baxter Theatre.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia,_Limited

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_opera

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 410-411,

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