Gilbert and Sullivan's "Trial by Jury"

Concord Light Opera Company will present three fund-raising performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial by Jury on April 17th and 18th at 8:00 (there will be a variety show first) and April 19th at 3:00 (without the variety show) at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord, 274 Pleasant Street (next to Concord Orthopedics). The cost of tickets is $20, $15 for seniors and students, for the Friday and Saturday night performance and $10 for the Sunday matinee, and may be purchased at the door and at concordlightopera.org. Contact Linda Ashford at 603-224-8485 for more information.

Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir William Gilbert wrote several classic comic operettas. Trial by Jury was a tiny gem with all of the satire, preposterousness and musical jauntiness we have come to love crammed into one act, a mere thirty minutes (thirty-five if we sing slowly!).

The setting is a British courtroom on a trial based on a complaint by a jilted bride. The plaintiff and the defendant are both terminal narcissism cases. This could be a prototype for Living with the Kardashians! Throw in a pompous but inane judge, a windbag bailiff, thunderously self-important attorneys, simpering bridesmaids, goofy jurors and hangers on, all washed in a bath of wonderful music. Come, listen carefully because there is not one word of spoken dialogue, and bust a gut with the Concord Light Opera Company (concordlightopera.org) in this year’s production of Trial by Jury.

concordlightopera.org