Beauty & the Beast Pantomime

Beauty & the Beast Pantomime

E.P.O.P. C

Ellesmere Port Civic Hall

21st January 2026

 

 

Ellesmere Port Original Pantomime Company production of Beauty & the Beast delivered everything their loyal followers expect and love from a traditional pantomime.  The moment the curtain rose, the full cast filled the stage with song, colour and pantomime spirit. Witch Thorn (Hayley Dale) explodes onto the stage, the boo’s and hissing echoes everywhere in the auditorium, panto audiences love a villain. Equally the panto is all about ‘good conquering evil’ Fairy Rose (Lucy Morris) defies Wirch Thorn saying she will protect Belle from her evil deeds.

Beauty & the Beast is based on a timeless fairy-tale. Belle (Hannah Moriarty) is central to the story, she is a popular, strong and likeable heroine. The Beast (Freddie Dale) provided both menace and charm, making his journey from fearsome to tender genuinely engaging. The arrogant Prince Louis’s (Amy Dainty) transformation was handled brilliantly, having a different actor for the Beast worked really well, reenforcing that kindness and courage always triumph. Dame Dolly Donut (Ian Dervereux-Roberts) arrived in style, over the top headwear, outrageous makeup not to mention her array of colourful dresses. Her side-kick Crouton (Shannon Lancashire) provided the majority of slapstick humour, her use of the third wall worked very well. The Bakery is the hub of the village, owned by Mr Baguette (Rob Turner), he employed Dolly Donut, Crouton and Belle, sadly it was destroyed in a fire believed to be started by the arrogant, overbearing Gustave (Laura Jones). Gustave is determined that Belle will be is wife, but Belle rebukes his attention. Now Belle has two stepsisters, Nutella (Gail Roberts) & Canderel (Liz Legerton), what a duo, they were hilarious, their rendition of ‘Physical’ was brilliant. Their many appearances were opportunities for the sisters to wear trendy over the top costumes: the 12 days of baking with Dotty and Garcon (Viv Henson) was outstanding, a touch of genius.

Director Gail Roberts chose her cast and production team well, Rob Stevens musical director, Emma Humpreys choreography assisted by Amy Dainty, a splendid team performance. True to the pantomime tradition, there was no shortage of audience participation, with enthusiastic call &response moments, playful asides and plenty of opportunities for the audience to feel part of the action. The comedy was broad but well judged, appealing to children and adults alike. The performance had good pace & energy, giving the show a real sense of fun, the clear good v evil storytelling ensured the story remained engaging throughout.

P.P.O.P.C production of Beauty & the Beast captured the very essence of the genre that is Pantomime, laughter, spectacle, romance and audience participation. resulting in a joyful, feel-good experience. There were some very fine individual performances, Liz & Gail great panto duo, well done. Freddie Dale gave an engaging & charming performance in this difficult role, ‘Ain’t no Sunshine’ was a highlight for me well done.

Thank you, Ellesmere Port Original Pantomime Company, for a super production of Pantomime, it was a blast. The audience left the Civic Hall feeling happy and entertained, well done.

 

 

Joanne Rymer

District 4

NODA

 

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