Beauty and the Beast

It’s pantomime time! Oh yes it is, and it may be said that the month of May is a funny time of year to be panto time but with the problems of COVID and joining together as a company The Lowestoft Players took on Beauty and the Beast with enthusiasm at the Players Theatre. 

The welcome in the foyer was truly heart-warming to the audience and the auditorium buzzed with excitement. This made a delightful start to the afternoon’s entertainment.

Beauty and the Beast tells the fairy tale of Belle, a local village girl trapped in an enchanted castle by the Beast and with the help of her friends, can she escape, can she melt the heart of her captor, lift the curse and live happily ever after? 

The Beast (Stephen Clark) played his role with menace and his alter ego the Prince with sincerity balancing both superbly and his rapport with Belle (Gabriella Harvey-Mobbs) showed a togetherness. Their singing voices were excellent. Dame Jubilee (Jimmy Atkin) was the traditional pantomime dame with great timing for comedy and I loved the use of the video footage for his late entrance. Very well co-ordinated. Fairy Rose-Marie (Harmony Jenkerson) showed a light, soft ‘good’ touch while Botrytis Blight (Judi Mars) was the evil, scary ‘bad’ character. The charisma between these two extremes was true pantomime style. Russell Sprout (Lewis Caplin) kept the audience laughing and was full of life and the children’s energy and smiley fun enhanced their scenes. Ben (Chris Penn) and Jerry (Pat Cregan) were the ideal duo reminding me of Gaston and his sidekick. Great fun. Pops’ (Stephen Wilson) entrance was very cleverly constructed to have the best impact and I liked the way he behaved like Doc from Back to the Future. The dog had a great time especially when it came to getting off the stage and realised it couldn’t get down on all fours so just got up and walked off. Brilliant, very funny. The ensemble added that sparkle to create this magical performance. 

The setting and staging were thought out to present some eye-catching scenes. The opening was colourful and bright, the sea shanty song was fantastic, ‘I will prevail’ had a scary atmosphere, the typical he’s behind you ghost scene and of course the congenial audience participation Jubilee song, all of this added up to a fun time for all. The costumes, props and furniture were apt and used appropriately, I especially loved the dames costumes and the quick changes for me were spot on well done. The rose theme throughout the whole production was fitting and prominently displayed to continue the story line, the use of the rose on the wand, staff and indeed inside the glass dome was beautiful. The video footage added detail to the plot and was effective but I felt when working with characters on stage it may be a little distracting for the audience. The ensemble need to be aware of spacing so that everyone in the opening number (Brand New Day) can be seen. 

I have never seen Beauty and the Beast performed as a pantomime but it worked extremely well with an appreciative, participating audience who loved every minute. Oh yes we did!

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