Iolanthe
★★★★☆ Satirical fairytale
King’s Theatre: Wed 14 – Sat 17 Oct 2026
Review by Shuang Ning Tan
The Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society makes a triumphant return to the King’s Theatre with Iolanthe, a magical musical experience in which the British government comes face to face with immortal fairies.
The seventh collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan, Iolanthe centres around engaged couple – Strephon (an Arcadian shepherd, son of the fairy Iolanthe) and Phyllis (a ward of the court) – who seek the Lord Chancellor’s consent to marry.
Gillian Robertson (Phyllis) and Lords. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.
Unfortunately, Strephon isn’t the only man after Phyllis’ hand in marriage: the entire House of Lords, plus the Lord Chancellor himself, are also vying for Phyllis’ hand.
To make matters worse, a misunderstanding occurs when Phyllis sees twenty-five-year-old Strephon meeting with a seventeen-year-old lady. Even after Strephon explains that the lady is his mother, Phyllis doesn’t believe him and angrily breaks off their engagement. Heartbroken, Strephon summons the Fairy Queen to his aid.
enhances the mood
The worlds of Fairyland and Westminster collide not just narratively but also visually. Onstage there is a staircase covered in vines and an arched bridge built across a stream. Trees downstage are countered by a cityscape backdrop.
Chris Combe’s lighting further enhances the mood: colours change as our focus shifts to a different character, gobo lighting (in the form of fairy rings) announce the arrival of fairies, and later dim red light plunges the Lord Chancellor into the depths of a nightmare.
Annabel Hamid (Queen of the Fairies) and her fairies. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.
Fiona Main’s artistic direction is faithful to the timeless genius of Gilbert and Sullivan, merely adding a dreamcatcher as a framing device. What really sets this production apart from the rest is its visual/physical comedy. Rather than comedy for comedy’s sake, Main seizes the opportunity to expand on characters and themes. Comedic moments such as a peer hitting himself with a croquet mallet serve to demonstrate how inept the House of Lords are.
The political satire in Iolanthe has held up remarkably well for an opera written in 1882. Main preserves the spirit of Gilbert’s libretto and modernises its context, making visual references to social media and Betfair. On one notable occasion, a peer holds up a sign that cleverly proclaims ‘Make America Great Britain Again’ – love it or hate it, Main’s additions to the production are certainly effective.
feverish intensity
Sebastion Davidson gives a breathtaking performance as the Lord Chancellor, a walking parody of justice who considers himself the powerful embodiment of the law. It is an understatement to say that Davidson’s showstopping rendition of the patter ‘Nightmare Song’, Love unrequited… is impressive.
Davidson gains a high-strung, feverish intensity as the Chancellor suffers from fitful sleep, singing faster and faster. All the while, without tripping over his words, he manages to dance around in an all-white nightshirt and floppy-eared slippers.
Sebastion Davidson with Craig Macbeth and Theo Rankine-Fourdraine. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.
Mairi Coyle, meanwhile, brings a motherly warmth to Iolanthe. Her sentimental appeal to the Lord Chancellor in My lord, a suppliant at your feet is especially poignant. Yet the artistic choice to have Coyle’s Iolanthe be much older than seventeen can at times be distracting, given that her youthful appearance is Phyllis’s reason for breaking with Strephon.
Peter Cushley (Strephon) and Gillian Robertson (Phyllis) give faultless performances. Cushley transforms into a romantic youth, sharing great chemistry with Robertson’s Phyllis and Coyle’s Iolanthe. Robertson is consistently brilliant as Phyllis, her beautiful voice infusing passion in every note she sings. Strephon and Phyllis’s duet None shall part us is perfectly harmonious, making up for the little time we see them together as a happy couple.
talent to the table
Every performer brings their own talent to the table. Whether it is the dignified presence of Annabel Hamid’s Queen of the Fairies or the theatricality of Theodore Rankine-Fourdraine’s Earl Tolloller, they give their all to the performance. Although there are a few instances of people singing out of sync with the orchestra, such mistakes are promptly corrected and quickly forgotten.
Energetic and enchanting, EDGAS’s Iolanthe is a production for longtime G&S fans and first-time Savoy Opera audiences alike.
Running time: Two hour and 40 minutes (including one interval).
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ.
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 17 October 2026.
Daily: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
EdGAS Website: www.edgas.org
Facebook: @EdinburghGilbertSullivan
Instagram: @edinburghgilbertsullivan
Linktree: @EdinburghGilbertSullivan.
Gillian Robertson and Peter Cushley. Pic: Eric Whitelaw.
ENDS
