Babes in Wood

This panto was written for the society by the director Leo Appleton and it was lovely to see something so different , from the very first entrance of Elspeth Fisher as  a sparkling Fairy Christmas we knew we were going to have some fun.

The story , based in Happyeveraftershire, ruled by the Grand Old Duke of York (Tim Foy) and his son Prince Harry (Les Longley ) included characters  based on traditional nursery rhymes and stories, the younger members of this large cast all had their own named role which they acted and sang with great enjoyment. Adam Cusack (Jack ) and Freya Latham (Jill) played the Babes with confidence , both having good clear speech and tuneful singing voices ,as they were  chased for their special lockets by  Joseph Coyne as the Evil Baron Hardaker along with Linda Hansen (Smash ) and Emerald Hickey (Grab),their facial expressions and body movements providing many funny  moments.

There are always the “goodies” to save the Babes with Lisa Degeir-Mawdsley playing a strong Robin Hood and Erin Bretherton as an attractive Maid Marion ,who , along with their group of Merry Men provided some  lively musical numbers , while the Amazon Women caused great hilarity with their entrance which included tea-trolley , afternoon tea and cakes and Knitting !!!  Not only did Leo Appleton write the script ,and direct the show but he also put on the frocks to become an excellent Dame Trot , never overplaying the role but encouraging the audience to become part of the show – the youngsters around me certainly had fun ,dancing ,singing and responding all evening – especially to the  “He’s behind you Spider”.

All the musical numbers ,with both live music and backing tracks , were well rehearsed, the movement well suited to the wide age group.  The sound was clear, the costumes were bright and suited to the roles ,while the use of projections complemented the simple set . 

Thank you to everyone involved in this production  for a really enjoyable evening

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