The Wicked World 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 story of the same title by Gilbert, written in 1871 and published in Tom Hood's "Comic Annual", about how pure fairies cope with a sudden introduction to them of "mortal love." Set in "Fairy Land", the action occurs within the space of 24 hours. Gilbert envisioned the set as resembling John Martin's 1853
Pygmalion (mythology) It was revived twice, in 1884 and in 1888. In January, 1872, "Ganymede and Galatea" opened at the Gaiety Theatre. This was a comic version of Franz von Suppé's "Die schöne Galathee", coincidentally with Arthur Sullivan's brother, Fred Sullivan, in the cast. In March 1872, William Brough's 1867 play "Pygmalion; or, The Statue Fair" was revived, and in May of that year, a visiting French company produced Victor Massé's "Galathée". In 1883, the musical burlesque "Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed" was performed at the Gaiety Theatre with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens and W. Webster, and a score composed by