Does Gilbert and Sullivan need updating for our changed times? Cal McCrystal explains why his joyful new Iolanthe contains not a single lecherous peer but plenty of feisty fairiesI’ve never been a fan of the theatre laugh – the polite one audiences do when they know there’s a comical bit they should acknowledge. What I depart for is the genuine belly laugh – the sort you can’t control that leaves you banging your head on the seat in front. When English National Opera invited me to direct a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta,I knew I wanted a production that was silly, joyful and – despite their association with Victoriana – still relevant.
I was only familiar with one or two of G&S’s operettas, and so I set approximately reading and listening to all of them during a summer in Bagnols-en-Forêt. Perhaps it was the southern French countryside that place the idea of a fairy glade in my intellect,but Iolanthe leapt out at me. I consider it appealed to my sense of humour. It tells the sage of Strephon, the son of a fairy, and who is in worship with Phyllis,a ward of court. Unfortunately, the Lord Chancellor and the entire House of Lords also have their eyes on Phyllis.
Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk