This, the first collaboration of Gilbert and Sullivan, was conceived as a Christmas entertainment for John Hollingshead's Gaiety Theatre where it received its first performance on 26 December 1871 and ran for 63 performances. Although it has often been described as a failure, it outlasted most of the Chistmas entertainments that season.

The Gods on Mount Olympus are old and tired, so decide to leave Mount Olympus and take a holiday. Meanwhile a troupe of travelling actors take their place.

Most of the original music for this opera has been lost, so performances today either adapt music from other Sullivan scores, or use a score by one of the several composers who has written a replacement for the lost music.