Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack, is one of the earliest plays written by W.S. Gilbert, his first solo stage success. The work is a musical burlesque of Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore", and the music was arranged by Mr. Van Hamme. It opened at the St James's Theatre on 29 December 1866, the last item in a long evening, following a farce and Dion Boucicault's new play "Hunted Down". "Dulcamara" ran for a successful 120 nights. The popularity of the piece encouraged further commissions for opera burlesques from Gilbert,
Robert the Devil (Gilbert) later be a defining part of his work. These led to Gilbert's more mature "fairy comedies", such as "The Palace of Truth" (1870) and "Pygmalion and Galatea" (1871), which in turn led to the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Although Gilbert gave up direct parodies of opera soon after "Robert", his parodic pokes at grand opera continued to be seen in the Savoy operas. The title character, a breeches role, was played as an insouciant "swell" by Nellie Farren, who became famous as the theatre's "principal boy". Gilbert later renounced "travesti" roles and revealing dresses on his actresses, and made