ENO Iolanthe – Superb Spectacle, Slapstick, Satire and Staging

ENO Iolanthe Review – 10 October 2023 by Maxine Morse

If ENO’s Iolanthe were a cake it would be a Unicorn cake with a deep buttercream icing and liberally covered with edible glitter and hundreds and thousands with a surprising layer of tongue tingling popping candy.

The director Cal McCrystal’s hallmarks are retro spectacle and masterly comic timing with splashes of whimsy and political satire. When combined with the unique talents of conductor Chris Hopkins, who takes a precision aim at delivering musical oomph, and Paul Brown, the Dior of costume and set design, the overall effect is nothing but a full-on sugar rush.

I am not a big fan of Gilbert and Sullivan’s prologues but Clive Mantle as Captain Shaw fluffed the audience with a good poking of fun at the opera going classes and a portent of fire-fighting silliness.

The late Paul Brown’s set resembles a 1950’s children’s book with its die cut wing and backdrops. The opera’s pièce de resistance is a life size steam locomotive which bursts through as if straight out of the comic golden age, unloading its cargo of crown and gown clad peers. Such was the stunning effect that I was sitting next to a world-weary television personality who broke the Coliseum’s strict ‘no photography’ rule and whipped his phone out to take a sneaky snap. Do not try this yourself!

Iolanthe has been banished from the fairy world for getting married to a mortal. Her son, a lowly Arcadian shepherd, falls in love with the equally vacuous, toile costumed Arcadian shepherdess, Phyllis. As ward of the chancery, she needs the permission of the Lord Chancellor to wed. Unfortunately, every dull, titled, money and status obsessed peer of the realm, including her guardian, is keen to wed her. Will she be allowed to marry her heart’s desire, or is she condemned to wed one of her less suited suitors? And what about those cute fairies who are besotted with those same dullards? Will they be allowed to live a life of wedded bliss or be condemned to death? We shall see…

Strephon (Marcus Farnsworth) the Arcadian shepherd has a touch of David Walliams about him, slightly obtuse and ditzy, a personality twin to the all-too-perfect Phyllis (Ellie Laugharne). Both carry the audience with their charming comical antics and deliberations.

John Savournin as the Lord Chancellor is a Gilbert and Sullivan stalwart. He excelled as Captain Corcoran in the ENO’s 2021/22 HMS Pinafore and is hot off the Opera Holland Park stage as Ruddigore’s Sir Despard Murgatroyd. Savournin, a confident performer with a conversational singing style, made a fast paced word salad of his tongue twisting Chancellor’s Nightmare.

Ruairi Bowen  as Earl Tolloller is a delight to watch as he delivers the crispest vocals of the night with masterly Victorian mannerisms.

The off libretto popping candy involved pooping horses, sheep ferried about by stage hands blinded by their camouflage and a shaggy-haired, partying Boris accompanied by a permanently surprised and gormless Michael Gove. A pot shot is taken at Nadine Dorries, who is responsible for the ENO’s current funding crisis, as she hilariously tries to break back in to the Houses of Parliament. And we loved the analogy of the Lord Chancellor having a terrifying nightmare that he had to move the Palace of Westminster to the frozen north as part of the government’s levelling up agenda. Perfect!

Did the Lord Chancellor’s page make it out of the performance physically unscathed?  He is bounced from place to place – falling, being clobbered and then dropped from a great height.  Give the marvellous Adam Bown his own one-man comedy show.

Please check out our other reviews and if you are new to opera you may find these tips useful for your first visit.

The ENO’s Iolanthe fairy world is a colourful pot pourri. Each fairy costume has been painstakingly designed to match the fairy’s unique personality – be that sexy and sultry, rotund and matronly or fun and impish. And the fairies stole our hearts. Petra Massey’s zip wire punching aerial antics have the charm of a Renaissance cherub. Bethan Langford as Leila exudes demure dimple-poking sweetness. The metal-clad, Wagneresque Queen of the Fairies, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, electrifies with a powerful performance embodying matriarchal warmth and strength. Samantha Price as Iolanthe brings her distinctive mezzo soprano and balletic moves to the titular role.

All in all, Iolanthe is a splendid frothy confection that will be voraciously devoured by both adults and children alike.

Maxine Morse

Maxine trained as an opera critic on ENO Response the opera critics training scheme sponsored by the English National Opera and mentored by Critics’ Circle. She is currently taking live performance reviewing courses at the City Lit and Harvard University.

Please get in touch if you would like her to review opera for your publication.

UNITED KINGDOM, LONDON
Iolanthe at the English National Opera.
Samantha Price as Iolanthe and John Savournin as the Lord Chancellor in  Iolanthe in the  Cal McCrystal production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Iolanthe continuing the 2023 to 2024 season of the English National Opera at the London Colosseum. The opening night for ENO Iolanthe is on the 5 of October  and then 12 performances up until the 25th of October.

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