Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and The Beast was given the panto treatment by Ben Crocker.  It opened with a clever interpretation of “I feel pretty” with the chorus appearing and disappearing behind parts of the set.  In this delightful tale we were introduced to an assortment of characters.   There were strong performances and no opportunities were missed to include local references and involve the audience.

The set was excellent with great attention to detail, especially for the props which were amazing and hard to believe they had been hand made for the show including furniture, the talking clock, chest of drawers, table and talking picture.  The set design by Charlotte Handy was well conceived and of high quality.  There was a gasp of admiration when the curtain went back to reveal the Hall of Mirrors after the interval.

The costumes were fantastic and of the highest quality, colourful and vibrant.  The make-up was appropriate for the cast and suitably dramatic for the dame “Ma”, Felix the poodle, the Beast and the wolves.

The lighting was effective throughout and the snow falling lighting was particularly successful in enhancing the production  The musicians, led by Martin Cocks and Michele Linehan Hill, provided the live music to support the cast and it gave the production a solid and full sound.

The enthusiasm of the cast: principals, chorus, animals, dancers and citizens resounded throughout this good natured production with lots of local references and jokes.    There was a huge emphasis on fun and enjoyment.   I particularly enjoyed the “Ten green bottles” scene with the skeleton and ghost as they scared the principals into running off and fitting in with the words of the song!   For a panto to succeed there needs to be good rapport with the audience from the principals and Graeme Cooper as Felix (the poodle, great costume and facial expressions) and Antonia Demetriadi as Malabelle, (the wicked witch) were particularly successful; both had a charismatic connection with the audience.  Paul Cuttle was in fine comic form as “Ma” and in spite of losing his lines once or twice, he clearly relished his role, especially while singing “Don’t touch my plums”, much to the amusement of the audience.  This evening was full of fun and offered all that is best about traditional panto.  Ros Shepherd is to be congratulated on marshalling her troops to ensure the audience had an evening of light hearted and atmospheric entertainment. 

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