Iolanthe

This show was first produced at the Savoy Theatre in 1882 and to this day it remains one of the most popular operettas by W.S.Gilbert & Sir Arthur Sullivan. Fairies, peers of the realm and the system of British government are all subjected to comment in this incisively written show.

Phyllis, an Arcadian shepherdess, and Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, want to get married, but as Phyllis is a ward of court the permission of the Lord Chancellor must be obtained for this event to take place. The Lord Chancellor does not approve of Phyllis being wedded to a mere shepherd and is of the opinion that she should marry someone of a higher station, in fact he would very much like to marry Phyllis himself, but because of his position this would be most improper. Meanwhile, Iolanthe, a fairy who is Stephon’s mother, is allowed to re-join the fairy troupe having served a sentence of twenty five years penal servitude for having married a mortal. Strephon enlists the aid of his mother and the rest of the fairies to help convince the Lord Chancellor and the government to allow him to marry Phyllis. To achieve this the fairies make Strephon an MP, magically able to pass any bill he wants. In the meantime the fairies fall in love with peers, thus the Fairy Queen is presented with a right political and moral mess, (a bit like Brexit) ! What is she to do? Well this is a fairy tale and like all fairy tales it has a happy ending!

From the moment the orchestra began playing the overture to this production the audience knew they were in for a musical treat, and when Gavin Cooper, the musical director, brought in the chorus with their “Tripping hither, tripping thither” song you could sense an air of joy emanating from about 85% of those present who were familiar with Sullivan’s music. The sound level between the vocalists and musicians was very well balanced which enabled the many young actors performing principal roles for the first time to be clearly heard. The costumes were most appropriate and those of the fairies were very colourful; much attention had been given to hair styles and stage make-up.

Director, Ruth Palmer, had taken the trouble to research the directions which were applied to the 1882 opening night (illuminated by the new electric lamps) and endeavoured to incorporate some of them in this production. This operetta and the principal character was originally entitled “Perola” but it was not until the final run through that Sullivan announced to the company that from henceforth, it would be known as “Iolanthe”. In response to this Ruth has introduced an extra Principal fairy called “Perola”. The fairies wore electric star lights on their heads which were specially made for the opening night, being powered by a small battery carried on the shoulder which was hidden by the fairies long flowing hair. In this work there is a song sung by the Fairy Queen in which she explains how she deals with feelings of love and mentions Captain Shaw, one of the best known   and most popular men in London and Chief of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, whose presence in the audience was acknowledged. Times have changed since then and as he could not be recreated, in this production a uniformed actor performed a cameo role to the side of the stage.    

This show consisted of faultless performances delivered to a very enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Well done!

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