Iolanthe

Iolanthe
presented by Gilbert & Sullivan Society of WA
directed by John Milson

Auditions: Sat 30 & Sun 31 May and Sat 6 & Sun 7 June, 2009
Time: Book audition time - Maureen Collett ph 9377 5964

The story concerns a band of immortal fairies who find themselves at odds with the House of Peers. The opera satirises many aspects of British government and law.

Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. Phyllis does not know that Strephon is half fairy (his upper half — his legs are mortal!) and when she sees Strephon kissing a seemingly young woman, she assumes the worst. But her "rival" turns out to be none other than Strephon's own mother, Iolanthe, a fairy — fairies never grow old.

But Phyllis' guardian, the Lord Chancellor, and half the peers in the House of Lords are sighing after her. Soon the peers and the fairies are virtually at war, and long friendships are nearly torn asunder. But all is happily sorted out, thanks to the "subtleties of the legal mind".

Gilbert had taken potshots at the aristocracy before, but in this "fairy opera," the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted. The political party system and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire. Yet, both author and composer managed to couch the criticism among such bouncy, amiable absurdities that it is all received as good fun.

Cast:
The Lord Chancellor
Earl of Mountararat
Earl Tolloller
Private Willis (of the Grenadier Guards)
Strephon (an Arcadian Shepherd)
Queen of the Fairies
Iolanthe (a Fairy, Strephon's Mother)
Fairies: Leila, Celia, Fleta
Phyllis (an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery)
Chorus of Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, Barons, and Fairies

Season:
Playhouse Theatre - September 14 - 19
Fremantle Festival - November 12 - 14