Iolanthe

Having seen their first use of this venue last year I was looking forward to this production of “ Iolanthe”. I did enjoy the evening but unfortunately because of restrictions, quite rightly, of Health and Safety Regulations the performance had to be moved to a room below the main hall. This was due to excessive heat in the normal playing area.

This meant that the show had to be performed without the backing of an excellent set and the cast and orchestra had to deal with some difficult problems at very short notice. Although the set was not used I made a point of viewing it and I found that it had been very well designed, constructed and painted depicting an Arcadian landscape and reversing to a Palace Yard, Westminster.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see how all the company coped with the difficulties with which they were faced.

Gilbert and Sullivan must have had a great deal of enjoyment when writing the music and script for this particular piece and the cast obviously enjoyed their time with the Fairies and Peers.

The ensemble, especially the ladies, moved and sang well in the limited space available and were certainly up for the challenge. The chorus of Periettes showed confidence and it was pleasing to see that the  younger generation are being encouraged to perform in these Gilbert and Sullivan productions.

The experienced principals made light of the problems and produced some excellent performances. I was particularly impressed, once again, with Robert W.A. Feeley as Strephon. Robert has a great knowledge of this genre and it certainly shows. His leading lady Amy Hardy as Phyllis sang well and used the limited space with ease. Chris Dodd as Lord Tolloller and Arthur Baines as Earl of Mountararat showed all their experience with two excellent characterisations and David Maddocks certainly enjoyed his role as Private Willis. All costumes were entirely appropriate but unfortunately sight lines meant many audience members were unable to get a clear view.

Members of the orchestra, under the direction of Margot Wright were outstanding and helped to alleviate most of the problems encountered with the change of venue. It was certainly disappointing that there was no stage, or set, on which to perform but the Direction Team of Stan Pickles, Lucy Bunce and Margot Wright together with Assistant Choreographer, Emily Gray ensured that the audience had an “evening to remember”. Thank you for your kind welcome to my wife and myself.

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