ALICE IN WONDERLAND

The original story which is said to be inspired by Lewis Carroll’s strolls along the West Shore in my home town of Llandudno, is always a delight and it was great to see this Company of youngsters take up the challenge of this classic tale. There was a large cast, rather too many to mention individually, but all on stage gave us a superb evening’s entertainment to start the festive season.

The panto opened in Wonderland, and once again the sets were magnificent and so imaginative throughout the evening, set designer Katherine Mills Pritchard must be justly proud of her efforts, together with her back stage crew, who managed every scene change without a pause. Technical, light and sound, added greatly to the success of the production. There were so many excellent performances from all members of the cast .Ellie Balahura enjoyed her role as Alice, coping well with all her tasks, together with a brave attempt from Lewis Booker as Dame Milly. How Lewis coped with those high heels I’ll never know! Lara Robinson was right on the ball with her role as Joker with Isabella Thomas and Enfys Pritchard fulfilling their portrayals of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum respectively. Erin Pennant put her stamp on the role of Queen of Hearts, showing ‘who was boss’ from her first entrance, with Ellie Scanlon as the down trodden King of Hearts pandering to her every command. Keira Grindlay and Victoria Lynch fully justified their selection as Princess of Hearts and Prince of Diamonds respectively. Excellent characterisations from Merryn Eyre – Cheshire Cat, Macy Jones – Caterpillar, Hannah Griffith – Mad Hatter, Ceri Lightfoot – March Hare, Ania Edwards – Dormouse , Amy Briggs – White Rabbit , together with Lewis Knight – Sergeant and Charlotte Osborne – Wizard. Brilliant performance from Poppy Bracy as the Knave of Spades throughout the piece. There were many ‘one liners’ which were delivered spot on.

The chorus were right on target, but I would like to have seen them grouped a little more imaginatively, nevertheless, great singing. There was some very ambitious choreography which certainly paid off with the dancers bringing their personalities to the routines. Wonderful costumes in every scene which was a joy to see. The whole pantomime was well directed with a cast over 40 youngsters, and I counted well over 40 adults involved. A wonderful example of a truly Community based Group.  Thank you very much.

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