Iolanthe

Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri [1] is a 1882 comic opera by W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)[2] and Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)[3]

The original text

It is one of the so-called Savoy Operas.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1882-3: Performed for the first time in South Africa in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town, by Mabel Hayes and her company, with vocal work supervised by Henry Harper, as part of a season that not only included the premieres of two more comic operas - Manteaux Noirs (Parke, Paulton & Bucalossi) and Olivette (Farnie) - but also a range of plays.

1893: Performed in the Opera House, Cape Town, by the Lyric Opera Company of A. Bonamici and Edgar Perkins, as part of their repertoire while touring the country at the time. The star performer was Leonora Braham as "Yum-Yum".

1902-3: Performed in South Africa by the visiting D'Oyly Carte Opera Company as part of their repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan works, and presented over the course of two seasons at the Good Hope Theatre, Cape Town.

1906: Performed in the Opera House, Cape Town, as part of a series of Savoy operas done by a company brought together under the management of the lessees Wheeler and Smith. Conducted by Francois Cellier, the company consisted of C.H. Workman, Fred Billington, Albert Kavanagh, Jessie Rose and Nancy Freyne.

1932: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society

1937: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society

1939: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society

1945: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society

1949: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1953: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1956: Staged by the Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society

1958: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1964: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1971: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1976: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1987: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

1998: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society

2004: Staged by the Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society in the Maynardville Open-air Theatre, directed by Helen Houghton, with Ian Kirkwood (The Lord Chancellor), Simon Speck (Earl of Mountararat), Lance Kotze (Earl of Tolloller), Peter Kramer (Pvt Willis), Niel Roux (Strephon), Rita Zmuro (Queen of Fairies), Fiona Weir (Iolanthe), Sian Atterbury (Celia), Lorna Hansen (Leila), Charlene Persence (Fleta), Annette Hamilton (Phyllis) and others. Musical direction by Ivan Meredith and choreography by Zeff Anderson-Attieh.

Sources

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolanthe)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Gilbert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Sullivan

Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society theatre programme (undated).

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 375, 389-390, 410-411,

Go to ESAT Bibliography