The flower fairies are back: Cal McCrystal's production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe for ENO fills the London Coliseum with colour, movement & comedy

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe; Samantha Price, John Savournin, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Elli Laugharne, Marcus Farnsworth, Keel Watson, director Cal McCrystal, conductor Chris Hopkins; English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Reviewed 5 October 2023

A sparkling revival of Cal McCrystal's first G&S at ENO proves engaging fun with strong musical performances, physical comedy and a sense of the sheer absurdity of the world Gilbert created

The flower fairies flitted back to the London Coliseum as Cal McCrystal's 2018 production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Iolanthe for English National Opera returned with many of the original cast (seen 5 October 2023). Chris Hopkins conducted with Samantha Price as Iolanthe, John Savournin as the Lord Chancellor, Catherine Wyn-Rogers as the Queen of the Fairies, Ellie Laugharne as Phyllis, Marcus Farnsworth as Strephon, Ruairi Bowen as Earl Tolloller, Ben McAteer as the Earl of Mountararat, Llio Evans as Celia, Bethan Langford as Leila, and Keel Watson as Private Willis. The designs are by the late Paul Brown.

The production is as tight as ever and remains a prime example of how to make a modern production of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera work in the London Coliseum. The action is full of extra physical and visual gags, many of them to do with the physicality of theatre itself. The prime conceit for the fairies is the idea of the conventions of the Victorian theatre, as McCrystal leans into the Pirandellian element in the fairies - in their opening chorus Gilbert has them explaining to us what they are and how they have no idea why they do what they do. Rather impressively, Samantha Price as Iolanthe remains true to this throughout the show, with all her dialogue accompanied by expressive mime, and all with a brilliant smile. Even the sets are clearly inspired by Victorian ones, with far too much flying elements in and out for the sake of it, and great fun it is too.

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - Ruairi Bowen, Ben McAteer - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

It wouldn't by McCrystal without the craziness. You could object to the stage hands and property sheep pulling focus as Marcus Farnsworth and Ellie Laugharne sang Strephon and Phyllis' Act One duet, a lovely number, engagingly sung. But it was very funny and Farnsworth and Laugharne both have strong enough musical characters and stage presence to cope. There are three extra characters. The fairy Fleta (Petra Massey) and the Lord Chancellor's page (Adam Brown), both of whom got involved in physical theatre, plus Clive Mantle as Captain Shaw, the Victorian fire officer, whose contributions were, I think, meant to be funny but whose opening peroration had just a little too much 'vamp till ready' for my taste.

There was also a lot of flying. Impressively Catherine Wyn-Rogers' Fairy Queen not only flew but sang at the same time, and all sorts of characters appeared in the air. McCrystal seems to take a character's absence from the plot or the musical ensemble as an excuse, or a challenge, to find them something to do. The role of Strephon is relatively small, and Marcus Farnsworth had a whale of a time pulling focus, smiling inanely and generally having what looked to be a terrific time. He and Laugharne even did a tap number in Act Two.

The entrance of the train in Act One remains a terrific theatrical coup, and there was much that is visually stimulating. Paul Brown's set designs still flow admirably, so that this might be a visually busy production but noting held up the action.

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - Catherine Wyn-Rogers - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

All this would be as naught if the central premise of the piece was ignored or sent up. But McCrystal takes the topsy-turvy seriously and has great fun with the central premise, articulated in the Act One finale when the men of the House of Lords come face to face with the rebellious women of the fairies. The opera is as much about hide-bound men and rebellious women as it is about anything else. Whilst the fairies are here made amusing through McCrystal's references to Victorian theatre, the depiction the House of Lords simply leans into modern prejudices and it is a bit scary how applicable a lot of the comedy is today. Certainly the dialogue has been tweaked (by Toby Davies and Cal McCrystal) but it works because the premise is still alarmingly strong. The comments about becoming a duke by competitive examination are as relevant as ever in today's world of political cronyism.

Musically this was a strong performance and textually too. We had the luxury of sitting in the front stalls, but it was clear that a lot of work had gone in to making Gilbert's text, whether spoken or sung, as comprehensible and as expressive as possible. Opera singers doing G&S can sometimes prime the music over the words, but here we had both.

Samantha Price was all engaging charm as Iolanthe and for all the physical mugging with her mime, she was very touching in her final solo, 'My lord, a suppliant at your feet' sung to persuade the Lord Chancellor to change his mind. As Phyllis and Strephon, it was clear that Ellie Laugharne and Marcus Farnsworth were have the time of their lives, but the gave fine musical performances. That opening duet was beautifully sung, despite the comedy sheep, and their tap number in Act Two was daft but engaging.

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - John Savournin, Marcus Farnsworth - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Catherine Wyn-Rogers made a formidable Fairy Queen both physically and vocally. She had terrific stage presence allied to an ability to send herself up whilst being completely dead pan, and a killer lower register which is exactly what this role needs. As the Lord Chancellor, John Savournin gave another masterclass in how to be musical, funny and more in these G&S roles. His turning of his (long) solo 'Said I to myself, said I' into an audience participation event without dropping a note was a brilliant turn. His patter was deft, yet he managed to bring an element of sadness too.

Keel Watson made a strong Private Willis, bringing humour and musicality to his solo, along with great physical presence. The four smaller roles benefitted, I think, from McCrystal's hand so that they came over more as real characters than usual. Llio Evans and Bethan Langford were wonderfully sassy as the two fairies, always popping up, having opinions and generally being bad girls. The two rather wet peers, Tolloller and Mountararat were turned deftly recreated as characters by Ruairi Bowen and Ben McAteer, their relationship developed far further than Gilbert might have countenanced.

The chorus was on great form, and it used quite a large one. There is plenty of music and movement in the show, all in fine fettle in this revival (choreography by Lizzi Gee) with the chorus members of all shapes, sizes and ages all entering with engaging spirit.

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - Ben McAteer, Ellie Laugharne, Ruairi Bowen - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

Having heard some recent fine G&S performances with reduced accompaniment, it was a pleasure to return to G&S will Sullivan's full band. Sullivan was a brilliant orchestrator and was amazingly deft with his use of the rather limited resources available to him. The scores when given properly, as here, really work. A new edition was prepared for the production in 2018 by Timothy Henty and Dr David Russell Hulme, and in Chris Hopkins hands the music sparkled. Hopkins speeds were always apposite, the music never dragged or sagged, yet filled the Coliseum. A real treat.

Many column inches have inevitably been devoted to ENO's opening production of the season, the revival of David Alden's striking vision of Britten's Peter Grimes. Iolanthe could not be more of a contrast, but it is a testament to the company's strength (and courage in adversity) that this revival full of crisp detail, and wonderfully engaging with the cast's sheer enjoyment shining out.

Gilbert & Sullivan: Iolanthe - Samantha Price - English National Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

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