I was born in Bradford in 1969, a handful of days before the first men landed on the Moon. My surname, Crowther, means "player of the crouthe" (the crouthe being an ancestor of the modern fiddle). My mother's maiden name is Pindar, which may be linked with the more common Pinder, meaning dog-catcher (or, as I remember being told, sheep-thief), but which also has associations with the great classical poet Pindar and the 18th-century satirist "Peter Pindar" (whose real name was John Wolcot). I am indeed proud to be able to link myself with poets, satirists, musicians and thieves.

In 2003 I became Secretary of the W.S. Gilbert Society. I have been fascinated with the works of Gilbert since school, and the interest doesn't seem to wane. That fierce, somewhat hard Victorian maker of plays was one of the most astonishing and original voices in the English language, funny and wild but also fastidious and with a genuine attitude to life. I maintain not only the W.S. Gilbert Society website but also Babliophile, a more personal celebration of Gilbert's life and work.

I have written a study of Gilbert's works entitled Contradiction Contradicted: The Plays of W.S. Gilbert (Fairleigh Dickinson Univerity Press, 2000) which may be bought from Amazon.com for very reasonable prices.

In addition, I have ambitions as a writer on my own account. I have written several plays, including the short piece Smokeless Zone (performed at Bradford University's Theatre in the Mill in 1999), The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Theatre in the Mill, 2000) and Welcome to Paradise (Priestley Centre for the Arts, Bradford, 2003).

Since I'm showcasing my plays, I might as well here give links for two short musical plays for which I've written the words:
At Home with the Abdabs, a curtain-raiser with music by Sullivan which I have written for use by Gilbert and Sullivan Societies; and
Pardon the Intrusion, a one-act libretto with music by Scott Farrell.

I don't know if there's anything in matters of astrology; I don't suppose there is. But if by any chance it does explain something about the workings of life, my planets must have formed the most extraordinary patterns towards the end of the year 1998. This is when I finally took the plunge of getting practically involved in the theatre--a terrifying moment for someone as introverted as myself. At the same time I got news that my book on Gilbert had been accepted for publication, and I also actually got a job!--at a conveyancing firm in Bradford, where I still work. As I had never held any job for more than eight months before then, this was a huge step forward.

Well, I could tell you all sorts of other things about myself and my life. For instance, I could tell you all about my lovely girlfriend, whom I met in 2002... but on the other hand, is that any of your business? I think not. Let us face facts. If you've read this far, you can't be very interested in my Gilbert websites, and in that case, what are you doing here in the first place?

Andrew Crowther
email: ajcrowth@ukonline.co.uk