REVIEW: Scottish Opera Double Bill

Trial by Jury – ★★★★☆ - Absurd
A Matter of Misconduct! – ★★★★☆ - Shrewd

Festival Theatre: Fri 30 May & Fri 6 June 2025
Review by Rebecca Mahar

Review commissioned by, and originally published on All Edinburgh Theatre, 4 June 2025. Edited by Thom Dibdin.

Scottish Opera and the D’Oyly Carte Opera celebrate the 150th anniversary Gilbert & Sullivan’s partnership by pairing Trial By Jury with A Matter of Misconduct!, a new operetta commissioned in response to it.

Although G&S had collaborated briefly in 1871, Trial By Jury was their first operetta and the one that kicked off their enduring success, making its premiere a fitting date to mark. Like all their subsequent collaborations, the plot is completely ludicrous, tucking satire into its nooks and crannies to sneak past the censors of the time.

Edward Jowle (Usher) and Chloe Harris (Counsel for the Plaintiff) in Trial by Jury. Pic: Michael Bodlovic.

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