The theatre and performing arts scene in Essex has always been a treat for residents and visitors alike.

We are looking back at some amazing pictures documenting a theatre production in a seaside town.

The Brightlingsea Music and Operatic Society was one of the theatre societies during the 1920s and 1930s which regularly brought stories to the stage to entertain residents.

Unfortunately, there is not much left to remember the fantastic work of this group but a range of images of performances.

Gazette:

Thanks to the Mersea Museum, which has a number of images scanned and displayed online, we are still able to be taken back in time.

Two of the performances which have been documented through photographs are The Gondoliers and Tons of Money.

The Gondoliers is a Savoy opera with Arthur Sullivan's music and W. S. Gilbert's libretto.

Gazette:

It premiered in 1889 and tells the story of a young bride of the heir to the throne in the fictional kingdom of Brataria. 

She arrives in Venice to meet her husband just to find out that he cannot be identified due to a mix-up by a drunken gondolier years ago.

Even Queen Victoria commanded a performance of the play at Windsor Castle in 1891.

Tons of Money, is a British farce play by Will Evans and Arthur Valentine, telling the story of a hard-up inventor who pretends to be his cousin in order to escape the clutches of his creditors.

Gazette:

The play premiered in 1922 at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London and was adapted for cinema on three occasions as well as into a musical in Australia.