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''Topsyturveydom'' (sometimes spelled ''Topsyturvydom'' or ''Topseyturveydom'') is a one-act operetta by W. S. Gilbert with music by Alfred Cellier. Styled "an entirely original musical extravaganza", it is based on one of Gilbert's Bab Ballads, "My Dream".〔 It opened on 21 March 1874 at the Criterion Theatre in London and ran until 17 April, for about 25 performances.〔Moss, Simon. ("Topsyturveydom" ) at ''Gilbert & Sullivan: a selling exhibition of memorabilia'', c20th.com, accessed 16 November 2009〕 This was the first work shown at the newly built Criterion, and it was played together with ''An American Lady'', written and performed by Gilbert's friend, the dramatist and ''Fun'' magazine founder, Henry J. Byron. The musical score to ''Topsyturveydom'' does not survive, but amateur productions in recent decades have used newly composed scores or performed the work as a non-musical play. Advertisements for the work spelled the title "Topsyturveydom", whereas the license copy of the libretto, filed with the Lord Chamberlain's office, and now held in the British Library, spells it "Topsyturvydom". ''Topsyturveydom'' is set in a quasi-utopia (reminiscent of Gilbert's earlier ''Happy Arcadia'' (1872), or even Jonathan Swift's ''Gulliver's Travels''), where things are the opposite of the norm. Party politics is lampooned, much as it would be two decades later in Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Utopia, Limited''. As in that work, the king is a "detested" monarch. Gilbert also renews the idea of party politics working in a backwards way in ''Iolanthe'', where the House of Lords is threatened with obsolescence by having its members selected by competitive examination. ==Background== 1874 was a busy year for both Gilbert and Cellier. Gilbert illustrated ''The Piccadilly Annual''; supervised a revival of ''Pygmalion and Galatea''; and, in addition to ''Topsyturveydom'', wrote ''Charity'', about the redemption of a fallen woman; ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern'', a parody of ''Hamlet''; a dramatisation of ''Ought We to Visit Her?'' (a novel by Annie Edwardes), an adaptation from the French, ''Committed for Trial'', another adaptation from the French called ''The Blue-Legged Lady''; and a play, ''Sweethearts''. He also wrote a Bab-illustrated story called "The Story of a Twelfth Cake" for the ''Graphic'' Christmas number. Cellier produced his most successful early work, a full length comic opera called ''The Sultan of Mocha''. Gilbert was either too busy to see his own show, or else, disappointed by its lack of success with audiences, he had put it out of his mind. In a letter to T. Edgar Pemberton, author of the 1903 book on the Criterion Theatre, Gilbert wrote: :I am sorry to say that in my mind is an absolute blank to the opening of The Criterion. I never saw ''Topseyturveydom''. If you happen to have a copy of it and could lend it to me for a few hours it might suggest some reminiscences: as it is I don't even know what the piece was about!〔See also Pemberton, T. Edgar. ''Sir Charles Wyndham: a Biography''. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1904.〕 The ''Athenaeum'' called the piece "clever, but rather remote... an exercise rather than an amusement."〔Quoted in Stedman, p. 123〕 From the mid-1860s through the early 1870s, W. S. Gilbert was extremely productive, writing a large quantity of comic verse, theatre reviews and other journalistic pieces, short stories, and dozens of plays and comic operas.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Gilbert's Plays – Annotated chronological listing )〕 His dramatic writing during this time was evolving from his early musical burlesques. Some of his work during this period exhibited a more restrained style, exemplified by a series of successful "fairy comedies", such as ''The Palace of Truth'' (1870).〔"Court Theatre" in The Times, 19 April 1871, p. 8, col. 2.〕 At the same time, he was developing his unique style of absurdist humour, described as "Topsy-Turvy", made up of "a combination of wit, irony, topsyturvydom, parody, observation, theatrical technique, and profound intelligence".〔 〕 ''Topsyturveydom'' dates from the end of this period, during which Gilbert tried a variety of different styles and was working towards the mature comic style of his later work, including the famous series of Gilbert and Sullivan operas.〔Crowther (2000), p. 67.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Topsyturveydom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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