Iolanthe

‘Iolanthe’ tells the tale of a fairy (of the same name) who was banished from fairyland due to marrying a mortal. Iolanthe has a son Strephon, who is top half moral and bottom half fairy. He wants to marry Phyllis, who all the members of the House of Peers also want to marry. This love story takes a couple of twists and turns, mainly due to Iolanthe. His mother, seeming to be a girl of seventeen when she was in fact centuries old, thanks to the eternal youth that the fairies have. As one could imagine a happy ended does prevail. Blackburn G & S Society last performed the show eleven years ago, so was a welcomed title for them to choose.

As has been noted for the last couple of years, the production opened with the shows overture, which once again sounded fantastic and credit needs to be given to the orchestra and musical director. The understated dynamics created beautiful music, which was easy to listen to. During the overture the stage opened taking us to ‘fairyland’. The fountain of youth took centre stage and four highly effective cloth columns, which were centrally down-lit creating a striking feature. These were used effectively throughout the show, with the cast utilising paths around them in some of the staging and dance routines. In the second act we were transported to London and The Houses of Parliament being a prominent feature, with Big Ben whose clock face was illuminated. This was very well designed and looked fantastic.

As the overture progressed we had a very comical scene take place, with the fairies taking advantage of the fountain of youth, drinking to excess and making it run dry. One greedy fairy who consumed far too much, turned into a child. The fact it also ran dry and was deemed ‘out of order’, also added to this humour and gave the audience a taste of what was to come.

The show opened with the full ladies chorus. The sound they created was very nice, although diction was a little hazy, with it being hard to make out some of the lyrics. The principles however did a good job in getting their lyrics across. The patter song ‘Love, Unrequited, Robs me of my rest’ was crystal clear. In a couple of numbers, in addition the diction issues the actual lyrics went slightly astray, with certain lines being forgotten. Dialogue was well remembered without the need for any obvious prompts throughout the show.

There were some very strong characterisations, which unfolded as the show went on. All the leads were well cast and each brought something different to the show. Their personas and character styles worked well together, which is exactly how Gilbert & Sullivan wrote their shows as they wanted them to be interesting and captivating to watch. This variation between characters ensured this was the case in Blackburn. Relationships were of course, over the top, in true G&S style. However the audience could see some emotion and sense the love or awkwardness, which was relevant to the story.

The cast had a good use of facial expressions throughout, which aided to the story telling. In some shows the ensemble cast can purely be like statues, watching what is going on with the leads. This was not the case with this chorus, being involved in the action, adding to the storytelling and enhancing the scenes. Once again serving the purpose that they were intended for.

Humour was an integral part of this show with the direction, making the most of the cast and playing to their strengths. The chorus looking at Strephon’s bottom fairy half was immensely funny, as the group of fairies had taken a vow of celibacy. This was kept up throughout the production, every time his ‘half fairyness’ was mentioned. Referring to the cast’s age and how well they were maintaining their ‘youth’ was superbly done and very funny. The modern day political influences were also very much appreciated by the audience. The Queen of the Fairies mentioning Brexit, Donald Trump and a cameo appearance of Margaret Thatcher were all well received.

Costumes were well fitting and looked the part. The fairies forest like dresses were in direct comparison to the heavy cloaks and black fitted tail suits of the Lords. The principle characters were also suitably dressed, in clothing that complimented the show, again making for a captivating production.

The lighting was very well designed, with a good use of colour and highlighting specific sections. This enhanced the mood and atmosphere of some scenes. The cloth columns’ being lit in such an array of colours was also very well considered. Sound on a whole was good, with the balance between vocals and orchestra being perfectly matched. This said we did have a few microphone issues with crackling and them dropping-out.

Overall this show was funny, sung and acted well with clever direction that played to the group’s strengths and attributes. Te direction helped to bring the best from the cast and make for a very enjoyable production. The varied cast all managed to add their own flare to their characters, ensuring the narrative was easily understood. We look forward to seeing the company’s 2018 production of 'The Gondoliers’.

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