2007: Iolanthe

Iolanthe
or “The Peer and the Peri”

by W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

Performed at The Little Theatre: Monday 23 April - Saturday 28 April 2007

In Spring 2007 we returned to Iolanthe, the well-known G&S satire on British Victorian politics… with many similarities to today.
The thoughts of the Guardsman on sentry duty outside the Commons seem very recognisable:

“When in that House MPs divide (if they’ve a brain and cerebellum too)

They’ve got to leave that brain outside - and vote just as their leader tells them to.

But then the prospect of a lot of dull MPs in close proximity,

All thinking for themselves is what no man can face with equanimity!”

Production team:
Director: ROBERTA MORRELL
Musical Director: DAVID TOFT

Cast list	Ticket information	Interested in Joining?
2008: My Fair Lady	2006: The Merry Widow	Production list

SETTING

Some time between 1700 and 1882

Act 1: An Arcadian Landscape
Act 2: The Palace Yard, Westminster

SYNOPSIS

ACT 1

Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, is in love with the shepherdess Phyllis. However she is a ward of Court and may not marry without the Lord Chancellor’s consent – and he considers a mere shepherd quite unsuitable for Phyllis. Strephon is in fact half a fairy (contrary to Fairy Law his mother Iolanthe married a mortal man) but has not told Phyllis this fearing she will leave him if she discovers the truth. Strephon has never known his father, as the Fairy Queen ordered Iolanthe on pain of death to leave her husband before Strephon was born. He tells his mother that he and Phyllis are going to elope and brave the consequences of the law; but before the two of them can do so they are interrupted by the full House of Lords who have come to Arcady in the hopes of persuading Phyllis to marry one of them. She declines, telling them that her heart is already given to Strephon. At this the Lord Chancellor becomes angry and threatens Strephon with the full force of the law. Strephon is being comforted by his mother when the Lords and Phyllis silently reappear and see them. Since Iolanthe is a fairy she does not look old enough to be Strephon’s mother and the Lords ridicule his attempt to explain the situation. Phyllis, convinced that Strephon is deceiving her, turns her back on him and declares she will marry whichever Lord is the noblest and richest. In anguish, Strephon summons the fairies to his aid and the Queen, outraged at his harsh treatment, sends him to Parliament as the representative of a pocket borough… with the added promise that the fairies will ensure whatever Bills he proposes will become law.

Click on thumbs for larger pictures – all reproduced by kind courtesy of Graham Nelson

ACT 2

Parliament is in turmoil. Strephon’s proposals are all carried unanimously by both Houses due to the fairies’ influence and the Lords are particularly horrified that membership of their House is about to be determined by competitive examination. Strephon though is miserable. Despite effectively leading both parties in both Houses, he simply wants Phyllis back. Eventually he admits to her that Iolanthe is in fact a fairy, and therefore looks much younger than she is. Phyllis is delighted that there is an innocent explanation after all and begs Iolanthe to plead with the Lord Chancellor for his consent to the lovers’ marriage. Iolanthe refuses and reveals that the Chancellor is no other than her husband – and Strephon’s father – but that she may not by the Queen’s command see or speak to him again, on pain of death. She compromises and veils herself to speak to her husband and is distraught when she finds that he plans to marry Phyllis himself (believing Iolanthe to have died many years before). Iolanthe reveals her face to the Chancellor and is quickly brought face to face with the Queen who orders her death. However all the other fairies have discovered the attractions of the Peers and the Queen realises she will have to execute the whole company, until the Chancellor quickly proposes an alteration to the law. He amends it to read that “every fairy shall die who don’t marry a mortal” – and the Queen quickly proposes to the Guardsman sentry to save her own life before all leave for fairyland…