For the next decade, the Savoy Operas (as the series came to be known, after the theatre Carte later built to house them) were Gilbert's principal activity. The successful comic operas with Sullivan continued to appear every year or two, several of them being among the longest-running productions up to that point in the history of the musical stage. After "Pinafore" came "The Pirates of Penzance" (1879), "Patience" (1881), "Iolanthe" (1882), "Princess Ida" (1884, based on Gilbert's earlier farce, "The Princess"), "The Mikado" (1885), "Ruddigore" (1887), "The Yeomen of the Guard" (1888) and "The Gondoliers" (1889). Gilbert not only directed and oversaw all aspects of production for these works, but he actually "designed" the costumes himself for "Patience", "Iolanthe", "Princess Ida", and "Ruddigore". He insisted on precise and authentic sets and costumes, which provided a foundation to ground and focus his absurd characters and situations.