The Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company's Production of Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri

This production will be directed by Michelle Schwantes, with music direction by Dr. Randal Buikema.

Iolanthe lampoons the House of Lords as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted. Gilbert also takes satiric aim at the legal profession, the political party system and other British institutions. Yet, the criticism is couched in such bouncy, amiable absurdities that it is all received as good fun.

Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, wants to marry Phyllis, a Ward of Chancery. Phyllis does not know that Strephon is half fairy and when she sees him kissing a seemingly young woman, she assumes the worst. Her “rival” turns out to be none other than Strephon’s own mother, Iolanthe, a fairy … and fairies, of course, never grow old! Phyllis’ guardian, the Lord Chancellor, however, 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” and a bit of fairy magic!

Both Gilbert and Sullivan were at the height of their creative powers in 1882, when Iolanthe premiered, and many feel this operetta is their most beautiful and represents the zenith of their collaboration.

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