About the Show

Set in and about Victorian London, Iolanthe or The Peer and The Peri tells the story of the Fairy Queen’s best friend, Iolanthe, who returns to fairyland after a 25 year banishment for having married a mortal. She informs her fairy sisters that she has a son, Strephon, a man who has the mixed blessing of being half a fairy. When Strephon is thwarted in his attempts to marry the beautiful Phyllis by a group of stodgy politicians from the House of Lords and a deliciously conflicted Lord Chancellor, he calls upon the supernatural powers of his newly discovered “aunts.” The ensuing impasse results in a riotous battle of the sexes which cannot be resolved until Iolanthe, following her motherly instincts, puts her life on the line to reveal that the Lord Chancellor is her husband and Strephon’s father. But all fairy tales have happy endings, so the fairy law is amended, allowing everyone to get married and perhaps change their minds afterwards. As Strephon says, “That’s the usual course!”

Presented by New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, America’s Foremost Gilbert & Sullivan Repertory Ensemble.

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