Gilbert and Sullivan ancestor and the device of the ghostly ancestors stepping out of their portraits. When "Ruddigore" closed, no new opera was ready. Gilbert again proposed a version of the "lozenge" plot for their next opera, and Sullivan reiterated his reluctance to set it. While the two men worked out their artistic differences, and Sullivan finished other obligations, Carte produced revivals of such old favourites as "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance", and "The Mikado". "The Yeomen of the Guard" (1888), their only joint work with a serious ending, concerns a pair of strolling players—a jester and a singing girl—who are caught
The Happy Land Gilbert. Not only had he written a short story on the theme in 1871, but he returned to it in his 1909 comic opera, "Fallen Fairies". Indeed, the general theme of mortals disturbing the peaceful state of affairs in fairyland is featured in a number of other Gilbert works, including the Gilbert and Sullivan opera "Iolanthe" (1882). Gilbert followed "The Happy Land" with "The Realm of Joy", set in the lobby of a theatre performing a thinly-disguised "The Happy Land", which directly parodies the scandal, even describing the costumes used. In "The Happy Land", "The Realm of Joy" (1873) and