Gilbert's Glory

by Ruth Padel

About the author

Ruth is an English poet and writer. She has published poetry collections, novels, and books of non-fiction, including several on reading poetry. She has presented Radio 4′s Poetry Workshop, visiting poetry groups across the UK to discuss their poems.

Her awards include First Prize in the UK National Poetry Competition, a Cholmondeley Award from The Society of Authors, an Arts Council of England Writers’ Award and a British Council Darwin Now Research Award for her novel Where the Serpent Lives.

Ruth lives in London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Member of the Bombay Natural History Society, an Ambassador for New Networks for Nature, a Patron of 21st-Century Tiger and a Council Member of the Zoological Society of London.

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

blurbs - Most people know W.S. Gilbert as the writer of comic operas such as 'The Mikado' and 'H.M.S.Pinafore' with Arthur Sullivan. But there was far more to his life and work than that. He was a prolific playwright, a writer of humorous verse including the 'Bab Ballads', a gifted artist and a theatre director who helped to revolutionise the way plays were produced onstage.

In this series of programmes to mark the centenary of his death, the writer and poet Ruth Padel explores five aspects of Gilbert's work and evaluates his significance and his legacy. Key contributors include the director Mike Leigh whose movie 'Topsy-Turvy' depicts the relationship between Gilbert and Sullivan, as well as biographers, academics and performers such as Alistair McGowan who has performed and directed Gilbert and Sullivan operas and the singer Richard Suart who recently performed in 'The Mikado' at English National Opera.

Producer: Emma Kingsley.