Absolute Pantomonium

Having driven over to the wilds of Norfolk, southeast of Norwich I arrived to find a small hall that became filled almost to capacity for this village Panto, and what a delightful pantomime this was, the villagers were coming out in force to support this group.

I really enjoyed this pantomime, you don’t need a big theatre and big names, just the fun and laughter that a small group can provide to entertain family, friends and visitors. We had all the elements, the good fairy, the evil-minded baddie, the dame, the silly Billy, the scary ghost and villagers, not forgetting the Prince and the girl he falls for and finally the audience singalong, all performed by a cast of ten.

The company had created a simple but useful set, using front of tabs, two different backdrops for The Village Street scene, inside Fairy Tales Castle, The Panto Emporium and a Forest backdrop that swished across the stage for crossovers.

The show opened with Nicky Grint as Fairy Tales and Louise Venn as Killjoy, these were a good foil for each other, the good fairy and the baddie, nice performances throughout for both, Louise accepted all the boos with good grace, she certainly looked the part as did Nicky, good clear diction nicely projected so we all knew the story. Girl was played by Sally Lloyd and Prince Charmless by Marne Causton, these were nicely paired as the ‘loved up pair’, Sally gave us a nice song and, as director Robert said, who knew that Marne could sing, a good strong voice, he enjoyed the thigh slapping and riding the hobby horse, he reminded me of the Knights in Spamalot. Good clear diction again and nice costumes for both.

 

Dame Tilly Topps had a good selection of costumes, Stewart Thompson gave us the traditional dame, plenty of make-up and innuendo and played to the audience. He was ably supported by his side kick Billy Topps well played by Eleanor Coyle, she had great fun bouncing around up and down the stairs and cleverly representing the drop through a ‘trap door’. Both Eleanor and brother Daniel who played the Ghost gave very confident performances and had great fun with the Dame in the song ‘The 12 days of Christmas’, I hope that they did manage to custard pie the Dame on the last performance. They both together with the villagers confidently led the audience participation song. The villagers were played by Sarah Carter, Linda Brand and Sandra Stewart.

This was a lovely pantomime, the cast all acted with confidence, giving a polished performance. Dialogue and songs were well performed, musical choices were well considered and sound was good, appropriate lighting and sound effects well timed. Scene changes were a little slow but I suspect this was due to restricted space in the wings and the back stage crew were well worked. Well done to cast and crew.

I welcomed the opportunity to speak with director Robert at the end and Secretary Sally after she came out of costume. Good Luck with your next production.

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