The Fortune Hunter

Original programme

The Fortune Hunter is a drama in three acts by W. S. Gilbert. The piece concerns an heiress who loses her fortune. Her shallow husband sues to annul the marriage, leaving her pregnant and taking up with a wealthy former lover. The piece was produced on tour in Britain in 1897, never playing in London.

Gilbert was the librettist of the extraordinarily successful Savoy operas, written in collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan. Their last work together was The Grand Duke, produced in 1896. Gilbert's later dramas were mostly unsuccessful, and The Fortune Hunter was no exception; its poor reception provoked Gilbert to announce retiring from writing for the stage.