Iolanthe

Synopsis

A satire on the Parliament of the day (or of today!) - fantasy and fact collide in this, one of Gilbert and Sullivan's most popular operettas. Iolanthe, a fairy, has been banished for marrying a mortal. Her son, Strephon is in love with Phyllis a Ward of Court. The entire House of Lords has also fallen for Phyllis but she declines to marry a peer. The fairies persuade their queen to pardon Iolanthe. She returns and is reunited with her son. The peers and Phyllis misinterpret the scene and believe that Strephon is being unfaithful. The fairies take revenge by sending Strephon to Parliament with astonishing results.

Our Review:

25 February 2002

If you talk of Gilbert & Sullivan, visions of jolly am-dram productions are bound to spring to mind. Take this cheap and cheerful imagery, add the superb, professional skills of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and you've got the campest version of Iolanthe you'll ever have the good fortune to see.

Iolanthe is the tale of the most popular fairy in fairyland, banished forever for marrying a mortal. We join the action as the remaining fairies are appealing for her return 25 years later.

Once reinstated, we discover Iolanthe (Maria Jones) has a half-mortal son called Strephon (Paul A Heywood) who is at the Houses of Parliament seeking consent to marry a pretty Ward of Court. The Lord Chancellor (Paul Bentley), however, is not keen to give the luscious Phyllis (a deliciously flamboyant Charlotte Page) to a mere shepherd boy. He would rather have her to himself. So (of course!) the fairies must intervene.

Director Martin Connor has c...

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