Cox and Box had its first performance in 1866. It is a one-act comic opera with a libretto by F. C. Burnand and music by Arthur Sullivan, based on an 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton. It was Sullivan’s first successful comic opera, written five years before Thespis, his first opera with W. S. Gilbert.
Following its premiere, it was seen at various benefits in 1867 and presented professionally in 1869, when it ran for 264 performances.
In the 20th century, it was frequently produced by the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company as a curtain raiser for the shorter Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
Our 2025 co-production with Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park
Learn MoreThe 150th Anniversary co-production of Trial by Jury, in a double bill with a new commission, A Matter of Misconduct by Emma Jenkins and Toby Hession
Learn MoreIn 2025, we will collaborate with Scottish Opera for a fourth time. We are co-producing a brand new production of The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár and, to celebrate our sesquicentennial, a new production of Trial by Jury.
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