Canterbury's 'Iolanthe'

With D'Oyly Carte only a few weeks out of town, it takes considerable nerve for a group of amateurs to put on Gilbert and Sullivan. This is especially true of "Iolanthe," for of all G & S, it calls for the richest costumes and the most lavish staging. But in spite of this the Canterbury Players last night put on an "Iolanthe" well worth seeing.

Their production's success lies in a peculiar feature of Gilbert and Sullivan: the closer you get to it, the better it is. The operettas are so ingratiating that their spirit can be contagious; the audience starts enjoying itself along with the cast. The key to this process is a cast which seems to be enjoying itself; the Canterbury Players are just that.

Walter Aikman was a wonderful Lord Chancellor last night; his voice is rich and his tongue facile. Clifford Lefebre was carefully ingenuous as Strephon, and Claire Wilson sung a polished Fairy Queen. From there on down the cast shaded off to the standard gulping of first-night amateur G & S productions, but the choruses were vigorous and the ensembles clear and accurate; Russell Ames' directing was largely responsible for the accuracy. The Canterbury Players are no D'Oyly Carts and Aikman is not Martyn Green (though he comes remarkably close), but their "Iolanthe" is fine fun.