Last Updated on February 20, 2026
Lords and Fairies Frolic in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe
5.0 out of 5.0 starsWalk through the large wooden doors into Wilton’s Music Hall, and you’ll find a rabbit warren of bars serving cocktails, beer, wine and food. It’s an intimate, atmospheric setting with stripped-down wood, bare plaster, and mismatched chairs and tables, making it a great place to meet up for a drink before the show. The Music Hall itself, spread across two levels, is a masterpiece of Victoriana. Stunning wrought ironwork pillars and a small but perfectly formed stage. The perfect setting for Charles Court Opera’s production of Iolanthe.
Iolanthe, first performed in 1882, sits at a fascinating turning point for Gilbert and Sullivan, with their earlier, lighter comic operas giving way to something more incisive and pointed in its satire. Blending fairy-tale fantasy with a gleefully irreverent portrait of the House of Lords, the piece takes aim at hereditary privilege, legal pomposity and the absurdities of tradition, all dressed up as comic opera. By this point in their careers, Sullivan’s music has grown in confidence, and Gilbert’s gift for exposing the nonsense of public systems is in full flow. In Iolanthe, the result is a work that is both whimsical and unexpectedly barbed, the beginning of a more mature, politically alert phase in their partnership.
The minimal staging for Charles Court’s Iolanthe, over two levels, with the orchestra tucked away to the side, has nothing more than a table and chairs in the lower space and a bookcase with a ladder above. Victorian lighting sets the tone, matching Wilton’s ambience perfectly. The lights flicker, and two fairies, in white basques and matching wide pantaloons, appear.
We are dainty little fairies,
Ever laughing, ever gay,
And we live in Fairyland,
And we seldom, if we may,
Venture forth beyond our borders
Into regions dark and dreary,
Where mortals live in smoky cities,
Full of care and full of fear.
Leila (Martha Jones) and Celia (Sarah Prestwidge) are lamenting the loss of their friend Iolanthe (Eleanor O’Driscoll). Setting the standard for the production, with clear intonation and lyrical voices, they make excellent use of the confined space, hanging from the library ladder, pouting and giggling through tripping hither, tripping thither. This is, perhaps, Gilbert and Sullivan at their silliest – we learn Iolanthe has been banished and is living at the bottom of the Thames with the frogs. The fairies are unaware of why she’s chosen that particular ‘home’, but when The Fairy Queen (Meriel Cunningham) pardons Iolanthe, and she returns, we discover it’s because she has a son who is half-fairy.
A fabulous quartet of voices, I particularly enjoyed Meriel Cunningham’s low mezzo, combined with some mischievous acting, making her a Fairy Queen with a heart. Eleanor O’Driscoll’s Iolanthe was whimsical and rather charming throughout. And, the group as a whole were quirkily funny.
The story revolves around Strephon (Iolanthe’s son, played by Matthew Palmer) and Phyllis (Llio Evans), who are in love and want to marry. He, half-fairy (from the waist up!) and she, a ward of court under the wing of the Lord Chancellor (Matthew Kellett). To marry, they need Kellett’s permission, and as he’s obsessed with Phyllis himself, that isn’t going to happen. There’s real chemistry between the two young lovers, and an authenticity, together with some comedic issues (as Palmer points out, his top half will live forever… but his legs are mortal). Llio Evan’s Phyllis is an utterly convincing Sloaney girl, while Palmer’s Strephon is, at times, almost chinless. Vocally well-matched, they generate real empathy from the audience. After all, who would want to consign the lovely Phyllis to a J.D. Vance-like Chancellor, or to one of the titled nobles he offers her to?
The peers as an ensemble are hilarious. Cleverly contemporised, Lord Mountararat in this production is a Lady, Thatcher’s double (Catrine Kirkman) – and definitely not for turning. Earl Tolloller (David Menezez) has a brilliant and mellifluous tenor voice and matches Kirkman’s comedic moments nicely.
The role of the Lord Chancellor is, of course, key to the success of any production of Iolanthe, and Matthew Kellett showcases a conflicted character, hilariously obsessed with Phyllis and unable to grasp the hypocrisy of his situation. His ‘When I went to the Bar’ was clearly articulated – no surtitles here throughout – and beautifully delivered with a rich baritone vocal. It’s one of the best-known patter songs in the G&S canon, and it received a rousing ovation on the first night for a virtuosic rendition.
The Lord Chancellor and the peers provided excellent entertainment. When the fairies conspire to make Strephon an MP and leader of both parties, and when he subsequently threatens changes to the establishment, including making entry to the House of Lords by competition and requiring them to give up their estates for social housing, they panic. It’s all good fun and yet strikingly relevant. The peers feel uncomfortably familiar at times in their NIMBYism.
Ultimately, though, in typical Gilbert and Sullivan fashion, Iolanthe resolves its tangled laws and romances in the most absurd fashion. Faced with a fairy law that forbids marriage between fairies and mortals, the Fairy Queen avoids reforming the rule and instead finds a loophole by turning the problem upside down. The entire House of Lords agrees to marry fairies and is thereby transformed into fairy beings, neatly making all the previously illegal unions permissible. Strephon and Phyllis are reunited. Iolanthe is forgiven and reunited with the Lord Chancellor (who turns out to be Strephon’s father), and their marriage is finally made lawful and public. The opera ends in a blaze of harmony, satire, and gloriously illogical compromise. Just like real life in politics, you might say…
This is a resounding 5-star Iolanthe. Charles Court Opera delivers excellent entertainment, with consistently good vocals, great articulation, and a level of merriment that leaves everyone at the stunning Wilton’s Music Hall smiling. Two hours of opera with a 20-minute interval flew by, and the energy level never dipped throughout the evening. The tiny band, a wind section and piano, conducted by David Eaton, worked brilliantly, despite being tucked to one side of the stage. A fabulous production from John Savournin that showcases the best of G&S.
Tue 17 – Sat 28 Feb, Various Times
£7.50 – £30.00 full price | £5.00 – £27.50 concession
Running time: 2 hours, plus interval
Iolanthe
Wilton’s Music Hall
Graces Alley,
London E1 8JB
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