Abstract
ON NI September 1876 W S. Gilbert's new play, Dan'l Druce, Blacksmith, opened at the Haymarket Theatre. Subtitled new and original drama, in three acts, with incident . . . suggested by George Eliot's novel 'Silas Marner,' it was an immediate popular triumph, both for the chief actor, Johnston Forbes-Robertson, and for the playwright. A contemporary French reviewer hailed it as un grand succes, and a contemporary British critic dubbed the theme pure, and true, and elevated.' Gilbert himself considered it one of his better efforts, more deserving of respect than many of his comedies and farces, and he insisted on including it in an 1881 edition of his published plays. Even during the first weeks of the play's run, however, dissenting voices had begun to express doubts. George Eliot, accompanied by Emily Clarke and George Henry Lewes, viewed the production from a private box. On 27 September Lewes recorded
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