The Arcadians

1909

Music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot
Lyrics by Arthur Wimperis
Book by Mark Ambient, Alexander M. Thompson, and Robert Courtneidge

By general acclaim, the greatest of the Edwardian musicals that graced the stages of London in the post-Gilbert and Sullivan era, The Arcadians boasts a bewitching musical score, a comic and satirical plot, and an ever-relevant final message that have entertained audiences on three continents for well over a century. When London aviator James Smith bails out of his plane over Arcadia, near the North Pole, he discovers a society in which truth reigns supreme and lies are loathed. When he himself is caught in a lie, he is dipped in the Well of Truth and, with his new comrades, sets off to London to rid the city of prevarication. Little do they know what they’re in for. Song gems include “The Girl with the Brogue,” “Charming Weather,” “The Pipes of Pan,” and the stirring march “All Down Piccadilly.”