History Of The Society

Aberdeen Gilbert & Sullivan Society is an independent performing arts group which operates from Aberdeen.

It was founded in 1976 by students Michael James and Derek Blyth and remained a student group at the University of Aberdeen until 2015 when the decision was made to separate from the Students’ Association and officially open membership up to the full community.

It has a reputation as one of the finest amateur operatic groups in the N-E of Scotland, and is unique in Aberdeen, as the only company currently performing full-scale Gilbert & Sullivan operettas on the local stage.

Click here for a message from our society founder, and view our Past Productions below.

Our performance record for the thirteen canonical
Gilbert and Sullivan operas is as follows:

Trial by Jury (1875):   1980, 1983
The Sorcerer (1877):    2005, 2013
H.M.S. Pinafore (1878):   1983, 1990, 1995, 2004, 2017
The Pirates of Penzance (1880):   1987, 1993, 1999, 2014
Patience (1881):   1982, 1989, 1996, 2010
Iolanthe (1882):   1977, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2012, 2020
Princess Ida (1884):   1981, 2008, 2015
The Mikado (1885):   1978, 1986, 1992, 2001, 2011, 2019
Ruddigore (1887):   1985, 1991, 1998, 2009
The Yeomen of the Guard (1888):   2006,  2016
The Gondoliers (1889):   1979, 1984, 1997, 2007 , 2018
Utopia Limited (1893): Not yet!
The Grand Duke (1896): Not yet!