May Fortescue company. She toured with her company for many years, frequently performing the plays of W. S. Gilbert. A tour of the United States from 1886 to 1887 included the New York premiere of Gilbert's play "Gretchen", with Fortescue in the title role (although "The New York Times" found her performance wanting). During these touring years, she revived at least eight other works by Gilbert, playing such roles as Jenny Northcott in "Sweethearts", Galatea in "Pygmalion and Galatea", Selene in "The Wicked World" and Clarice in "Comedy and Tragedy". Fortescue's troupe premiered Gilbert's 1897 drama, "The Fortune Hunter", in which she
The Happy Land "How shabby!" Soon the three male fairies return with news from the Fairy King: they may enjoy the privilege of "popular government." Selene rejects this with horror. The fairies will "Leave such blessings to a happy land." Gilbert created several blank verse "fairy comedies" at the Haymarket Theatre in the early 1870s beginning with "The Palace of Truth" (1870) and "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871). "The Wicked World" was the third of these, and "The Happy Land" followed so soon on its heels that the two plays ran simultaneously. The plot of "The Happy Land" and "The Wicked World" clearly fascinated