It’s been ages since I last went to a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan, but after seeing Durham Opera’s sparkling and vivacious performance of Iolanthe last night I’m resolved not to leave it quite so long before the next one.
Director Sarah Johnston sprinkled the Assembly Rooms with magic before the curtain even went up. There were garlands hanging from the fittings, the orchestra were bedecked with wreaths and fairy wings and the curtain was lit up with whimsical animations during the overture – played with spirit and charm under the direction of Michael Kohn. The small band, using Matthew Rooke’s orchestral reduction, were on fine form throughout the evening, with lovely solos from Luke Owlett (oboe) and Leo Vernaglione (trumpet).
These animations also gave us clues as to the setting of this production – the ‘1st Annual Parliamentary Camp’ (upgraded to 2nd for act two, a year later), meaning that the Lords and Fairies could co-exist in the same forest set. The fairies emerged from two giant toadstools whilst the Lords, kitted out in an amusing range of posh-boy tropes, from the tweedy and blazered through to boho, nipped in and out of little pop-up tents and donned blue tinted shades for Lord Tolloller’s Ballad in praise of blue blood.
From the start, the fairy chorus were sweetly chaotic, bumbling and bickering their way through their dances. Maia Harris Lindop made a marvellous Fairy Queen, who tries so hard to convey Queen of the Night levels of fear and authority but in the end is endearingly hopeless in her attempts to control her unruly charges.
Meanwhile, among the Lords, there was a such a hilarious bromance going on between Lord Mountararat (Matthew Dodd) and Lord Tolloller (Ash Marshall) that it was hard to believe that either of them were ever seriously interested in Phyllis. Both chorus groups were strongly sung and the voices well-blended but I struggled to follow much of their text, particularly in the full ensemble numbers (although I do know how tough it is to get ensemble words across clearly, and so often we don’t notice because we have programme texts or surtitles). Even without the words, The Act 1 finale was sung with such energy and exuberance, it was still a highlight of the evening.
The fact that we always refer to G&S as a pair highlights the equality between words and music and happily the problems with the text did not extend to the soloists. Matilda Ketterer was excellent in the central role of Phyllis, with ringing top notes and a judicious mixture of temper and flirtatiousness in her interactions with her various suitors and Joseph Wilson was a gentle and sympathetic Strephon.
Samuel Davie was splendid as Private Willis with a glorious ringing bass and a cheeky grin, clutching a copy of ‘Politics for Dummies’ as he sang ‘When all night long, a chap remains’. Daniel Hicks fired out the Lord Chancellor’s patter as if he’d been doing it all his life and was clearly having a lot of fun with his character. His insomnia aria in particular was a tour-de-force, super-charged with restless delirium.
Despite being the title role, Iolanthe herself doesn’t have a huge amount of stage time. Keira Barrett’s singing was warm and assured. Even though she looked like an agelessly youthful fairy, her golden mezzo-soprano hinted at her true age of several hundred years, and this was particularly effective in her expressive plea on her son’s behalf to the Lord Chancellor.
Yes, G&S is silly but this show was a splendidly wholesome dose of silliness and joy. Everyone in this production thoroughly deserved the lively full house and the audience’s continual enthusiasm – and I hope they were all enjoying it as much as we were.
Durham Opera Ensemble, Iolanthe
The Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms, reviewed on 27 February.
Main image: Maia Harris Lindop as Fairy Queen with Celia (Ruby Alexander), Tulip (Amanda Cross Court) and Rose) Hannah Mayes. Photo (c) Caleb Mock
