All questions of Party are merged
   In a frenzy of love and devotion

In the Parliamentary hive
   Liberal or Conservative

How topical can you get?   Iolanthe in this election year of coalition politics, against the background of a Parliament whose esteem has never been lower!   Gilbert’s talent for making fun of pompous people in high office finds many echoes today, and what better way to have fun than to put the Peers in an Arcadian landscape and watch them declare their devotion to a shepherdess?    No surprise that Phyllis is not in love with them but with the shepherd lad Strephon.   The Peers scheme against him, the Fairies send him to Parliament by magic and as usual the plot gets as silly as possible while the characters behave as if it’s quite normal!   All this and some of Sullivan’s best music too – the stupendous Peers’ Chorus, the virtuoso and hilarious Nightmare Song, the pastoral colours of the country folk and the, ahem, delicate tread of the fairies and much else conveyed so skilfully by a master of orchestral and choral forces.   A perfect way for our Society to celebrate its 80^th year.