Now in its 61st season, McGill’s Savoy Society is set to welcome new and old audience members alike to the fantastical world of Iolanthe: or the Peer and the Peri; a world where fairies are banned from living amongst mortals… until one person dares to defy the rules.

Written by Gilbert & Sullivan and first performed in 1882, Iolanthe: or the Peer and the Peri is a comedic opera and light-hearted political satire that follows the antics and troubles that arise when Strephon (played by Matthew Erskine), a half-fairy shepherd, falls in love with Phyllis (played by Aniela Stanek), a ward of chancery in the British parliament. Newly pardoned for her crime of marrying a mortal man, Iolanthe (played by Maile Gutsche), mother to Strephon, sets on a course with her fairy family to support her son’s marriage to Phyllis. However, things fall apart when Phyllis, accompanied by infatuated peers, catches Strephon in a tender moment with his mother, confusing her for another lover. Left in despair, Strephon and Phyllis must now navigate the world of parliament while living amongst distasteful peers as they attempt to pick up the pieces of their relationship.