Well, somebody has to do it. Iolanthe has to be dragged out every so often or the poor fairy's imprisonment at the bottom of the river will become permanent.
Not that some of us would miss her – her absurdities do not improve with age.
Musically, the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company was as polished as ever.
Unusually, the lead romantic role is a baritone, but James Cleverton's clear voice is almo
st tenor-like and the pairing with Victoria Joyce as the lead romantic soprano worked well.
There are many parts that seem underwritten with too little for Iolanthe (Victoria Byron), Private Willis (Gareth Jones), Earl Tolloller (Barry Clarke), and particularly the Earl of Mountararat played by the reliably excellent Donald Maxwell.
The humour, though, relies on situations that become less funny with every year and the production had to resort to innuendo overload in the case of the fairies.
Jill Pert is a fine contralto and comic actress, but even her characterisation of the daunting Fairy Queen was one dimensional.
There were the usual moments of superbly polished slapstick like the trio involving the two earls, the Lord Chancellor (Simon Butteriss – easy on the ear as usual), three teddy bears and two mini scooters, but on the whole they would none of them be missed if Iolanthe had another long banishment.
The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, Buxton Opera House
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