The Boston Conservatory Theater Ensemble will presents Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic opera "Iolanthe" from Oct. 25 through 29 at The Boston Conservatory Theater, 31 Hemenway St., Boston. Neil Donohoe directs; musical direction is by Bill Casey with choreography by Michelle Chassé.

Considered by some to be the ultimate Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration, "Iolanthe" employs the improbable situations and pressing paradoxes characteristic of the work of its authors.

Twenty-five years after being banished from Fairyland for marrying a mortal, Iolanthe returns with a half-fairy, half-mortal grown son. When he falls in love with the ward of the Lord Chancellor, the British House of Lords is forced to confront a lovely group of fairies.

Set in Edwardian England in 1910, the story pits suffragist fairies against the Peers of the Realm. In this version, the traditionally females roles (the fairies) are played by men, and the male Peers of the Realm are played by women.

Donohoe commented, “This conception evokes the controversies over ‘family values,’ true love, liberalism vs. conservatism, and trenchant traditions in political ‘spin’ propaganda. Lightheartedly, it asks governments to embrace true democratic equality for every citizen, no matter how different he or she or he/she may be.”

For ticket information ($16 general admission, and $5 for students and senior citizens), call the box office at 617-912-9222.

-- OnStage Boston

10/07/06