The Republican journal., 1910-01-27

The opera is in two acts, and the scene in
the first act is an Arcadian landscape, with a
river at the back of the stage, crossed by a
rustic bridge. The Fairies enter, led by Leila
Celia and Fleta, and trip around the stage
singing as they dance:
Tripping hither tripping thither,
Nobody knows why or whittier;
We must dance and we must sing,
Round about our fairy ring!
There are solos by Celia and Leila, followed
by the chorus, and when they stop singing the
Fairies begin TO lament the absence of Iolanthe
who had been banished for life twenty five
years before, having offended her Queen by
marrying mortal. Enter the Fairy Queen. and
the Fairies plead with her to pardon Iolanthe
and she at last consents, and in answer to her
invocation
Come to our call
Come, lolanthe!
Iolanthe rises from the water and approaches
the Queen with head bent and arms crossed
She is clothed in water weeds, but when the
Queen bids her rise and announces she Is par
doned the weeds fall from her and she ap-
pears clothed Fairy. The Queen places a
diamond coronet on her head and embraces
her, and the others also embrace her, singing
Welcome to our hearts again,
Ioanthe! Iolanthe!
We have shared thy bitter pain,
Iolanthe! Iolanthe!
Every heart and every hand
In our loving little band
Welcome thee to fairyland
Ioanthe!
In answer to the Queens enquiry as to why
with all the world to choose from, she decided
to live at the bottom of the stream, Iolanthe
said it was to be near her son Strephon, who
was born soon after she left her husband by
the Queens command, and who did not even
know of his fathers existence. He was a
fairy down to his waist, but his legs were NOR
tai; was an Arcadian shepherd and loved Phyl-
lis, Ward in Chancery. Strephon enters sing
ing and dancing and playing fageolet He
does not see the Fairies, who can make them
selves invisible and who retire up the stage as
he enters. He salutes his mother in song of
which the closing lines are
For Pm to be married today-today-
Yes, Pm to be married today!
Iolanthe asks if the Lord Chancellor has given
his consent to the marriage with his ward,
Phyllis, and Strephon replies that he has not,
but said that shepherd lad was no fit help
mate for Ward in Chancery The Fairies
enter and Strephon asks, "Who are these?''
Iolanthe then tells of her pardoning by the
Queen and says, ''these ladies are my beloved
sisters" Strephon kneels to them as his aunts
and the Queen says that the pardon of his
mother is pleasant piece of news for his bride
on her wedding day. But Strephon replies
that his bride knows nothing of his fairyhood;
that he dare not tell her, and that it is the
bane of his existence. The Queen tells him
that she has borough or two at her disposal
and will have him elected to Parliament as q
Liberal-C Conservative. The Fairies and Queen
then trip off singing, Iolanthe, who takes an
affectionate leave of her son, going off last.
Phyllis enters singing and dancing and &C.
companying herself on a fiageolet. She and
Strephon discuss the proposed marriage and
Phyllis suggests that as it is penal servitude
for life to marry Ward Of Court without the
Lord Chancellor's consent it might be better to
wait two years, when she would be Of age, but