PATIENCE

In Bath G&S Society’s reimagined version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, the action unfolds in the bustling heart of Aquae Sulis, circa 75 AD, where steaming thermae, marble colonnades, and gossip-filled courtyards set the stage for a battle of love, vanity, and poetic pretension.

The lovesick maidens of the original become patrician ladies who have abandoned their sturdy legionary suitors to swoon over two rival poets — one a brooding Stoic philosopher, the other a flamboyant epic bard — each vying for artistic and romantic supremacy.

At the heart of the story is Patience, a humble milkmaid, whose simple outlook on love confounds the lofty ideals of the city’s elite. As satire and silliness unfold, the opera pokes fun at fads, pretension, and the fickle nature of fashion.

Expect witty wordplay, sparkling melodies, and a riot of Roman pageantry in this fresh, toga-clad twist on a timeless G&S favourite.