Petts Wood Operatic Society

Lighten your mood as the evenings draw in with Petts Wood Operatic Society’s latest production, Gilbert and Sullivan’s funny, satirical and tuneful take on matters Parliamentary, Iolanthe.

It’s the swinging 1960s and Strephon Ward, a common or garden park keeper, has been dragged down into a scandal. His beautiful girlfriend Phyllis, a deck chair attendant, is being courted by half the House of Lords. Even the Lord Chancellor is captivated by her charms.

What no one knows is Strephon is half a fairy and his mother, Iolanthe, (recently pardoned by the Fairy Queen for marrying a mortal 25 years earlier) and all her sisters and aunts never grow old! Then, double scandal! Strephon is discovered comforting a young girl, who no one realises is in reality his mother, and his dreams of happiness are shattered.

This new ‘Twist’ and ‘Shout’ take on the Gilbert and Sullivan classic has the original music and words in a swinging sixties style production with Mary Quant inspired fairies, sharp suited Lords and a Lord Chancellor with a magic teddy bear!