Dunedin: Spectacular Election-Week Entertainment

Escape from all that electioneering and MMP vote-counting into a world where fairies roam free and politicians yearn for affection.

Gilbert and Sullivan's

Iolanthe

is perfect family entertainment for the season, with is satire on parliamentary process and the law, in which the House of Lords is challenged by a powerful troupe of fairies. The usual G&S romantic element is blended with Gilbert's sense of the ridiculous in a whimsical story-line, with a string of musical hits that only Sullivan could produce.

Principals from Iolanthe “dance around their fairy ring”

Dunedin's Really Authentic Gilbert and Sullivan Performance Trust stages Iolanthe at the Mayfair Theatre at public performances this Sunday 11 September at 2.30 pm then on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 at 8 pm.

Guest Brian McKay from Auckland appears as the Earl of Mountararat with Barry Dorking as the Lord Chancellor and Sarah Oliver as Iolanthe.

Lavishly authentic costumes are designed by Annette Waugh and Lesley Brown with sets by Wayne Everson and props and accessories by Josie Roberts.

After weeks of rehearsals, the cast and crew have now been joined by the Southern Sinfonia accompanying in the pit, while a contingent from Dunedin's champion St Kilda Sentinel Brass Band masquerades on stage as the Grenadier Guards playing Sullivan's newly-reinstated authentic military band scoring – almost certainly a New Zealand premiere - in scenes of spectacular pageantry.

Book at the Dunedin Regent (03) 477 8597 for this timely election-week special.

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