Iolanthe
By Gilbert & Sullivan
16th - 17th & 22nd - 24th November 2018
Cheltenham Playhouse
Directors
Stage Director - Diana Dodd
Musical Director - David Manifold
Principals
Lord Chancellor - Tony Jones
Earl Tolloller - Mike Ferris
Earl Mountararat - Simon Lewis
Strephon - Samuel Taunton
Private Willis - Brian Crosby
Phyllis - Alice Wilman
Fairy Queen - Bronwen Carless
Iolanthe - Sarah Thompson
Celia - Fiona Gordon-Smith
Leila - Penny Lewis
Fleta - Sheila Ham
Tinkerbell - Macie Timms
Ensemble
Chorus of Fairies:
Sarah Bottomley
Jeanie Flint
Lesley Hendrie
Molly Masters
Maggie Preston
Jo Scriven
Chorus of Peers
Alan Flint
Sean Kilty
Tom Mullins
Richard Schofield
Daniel Stewart
Hugh Tarran
Phil Wenham
John Wilman
Iolanthe is a brilliantly funny, satirical fantasy, revealing a typically Gilbert & Sullivan topsy-turvy worldview. Based on W.S. Gilbert´s Bab Ballard, ‘The Fairy Curate’, Iolanthe is set 25 years after fairy Iolanthe committed the ultimate crime: marrying a mortal. Pardoned for her crime she begs the Fairy Queen to help her half-human, half-fairy son Strephon, to marry his beloved Phyllis. Unfortunately the evil Lord Chancellor wants Phyllis for himself, so naturally the fairies invade parliament so the boy can win the girl (and have a lot of fun with a few Peers).
Iolanthe is one of librettist W.S Gilbert and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan´s many comic operas. The Victorian duo were brought together in 1875 by theatre manager Richard D´Oyly Carte, whose Savoy Theatre was established as a showcase for their works. Gilbert and Sullivan are perhaps best known for their operetta´s, The Pirates of Penzance (1879) and The Mikado (1885).
