Babes in the Wood

It’s Panto time again and any visit to see Wales Community Theatre Player’s Panto is bound to be a total hit and this year’s was no different.

This year’s Panto, Babes in the Wood, was however slightly different insomuch that their usual Director had taken a step back due to his health problems, however Nick Challenger need have no worries because this year it was to be directed by Ashley Booker who is no stranger to Pantos having played many parts himself.

I am sure I can speak for everyone who visits Wales CTP when I say we all send Nick our love and very best wishes for a speedy recovery.

There was plenty of hissing, booing, he’s behind you and all the usual gags to make a great Panto, with an opening number of Welcome to the 60s from Hairspray, changed to Welcome to the Panto then entire cast filled the stage to entertain us and this they did.

There are many characters in this version of Babes in the Wood, 17 in total so it would be impossible to mention everyone; however it is suffice to say everyone from principal character to the entire chorus all added to the enjoyment for all.

Opening up the story is Greenwood Fairy played superbly by Lynne Schofield who spoke in rhyme each time she entered the stage as well as adding to it by singing too, Fairy Greenwood introduced the Babes in question, Jack played by Cohyn Wills and Jill played by Alana Habergham-Rice, both creating their own character and managing to develop them to produce an excellent performance.

The hero of the piece is of course Robin Hood and here we had a firm favourite of both mine and I suspect the entire audience, Alison Wade who once again delighted everyone with her fine singing, dancing and acting. Playing opposite Alison was Toni Cook, making a welcome return to the stage as Maid Marian, Toni has an excellent voice and when she is joined by Alison it is pure magic.

As the baddies of this we had Shaun Bradley as The Sheriff of Nottingham and Nathan Kennedy as Prince John both of whom were able to show off their evilness and managing to generate lots of Boos, Oh No He Isn’t and jeers each time they entered the stage.

There was also plenty of comedy in this panto and this was delivered with ease by Paul Burgess as Georgy Porgy who was loved by the audience with every line he delivered, and sometimes without even having to deliver lines, just being there was enough to generate the laughs.

Also delivering plenty of comedy Ann Mann as the totally dippy Milly the Maid, who would have been a very good double of the great Sue Pollard, Ann “bounded” around the stage as if demented, in fact I’m not sure she wasn’t, and was loved by all.

No panto would be complete without The Broker’s Men, here we had Rascally Richard and Dirty Dick played to the full by Martin Crowther and Philip Burgess delivering plenty of knock about comedy which is loved by young and old alike. Also worth a mention is Holly Riley as Will Scarlett, Dave Froggatt as Friar Tuck, Dan Schofield as Little John and Lee Phillips as Alan-a-Dale complete with lute.

I mentioned earlier that this year’s Panto was different due to the health of Nick Challenger and anybody who has visited Wales CPT will know Nick has played The Dame for some years, again Wales CTP had to find a replacement, however they did not have to look very far as they had an excellent replacement in their own company. Joseph Bairstow has played quite a number of parts in previous pantos but I’m not sure if he had ever thought about playing this part before. Joseph played Daisy Dumpling and was outstanding, taking over this role with ease and was immediately taken to the hearts of everyone watching.

There were plenty of highlights in this panto but some I would like to mention are, the finale to Act 1 where the Babes are taken to Fairyland by Fairy Greenwood and the entire cast sang Once Upon a Time from Brooklyn, this was stunning. Another highlight was in the second act during the “Ghost Gag” which was played in front of a 3D Interactive Film, a great achievement, the last one is the finale of the whole show when the entire cast filled the stage in fabulous Gold and Purple costumes.

Big congratulations to everyone involved in this production, especially Ashley Booker, Jess Lyons and Sam Walker, choreographers plus David Burgess, Musical Director.

 

 

 

 

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