Camelot the Pantomime

This was a proper community pantomime, it had a large cast of mixed ages and lots of families were involved both on and off stage. Bernadette Wilfred gave us a traditional production but with a modern feel in places. I’m sure having such a large cast caused some problems, but a raised area at the back of the stage and clever use of the aisles helped. Frayr Bridgeman and Bernadette created varied and appropriate choreography for the different music genres and the level of difficulty was changed for the abilities of the groups. I liked the music choices, from disco to ballad and there were some moments of strong harmonies, especially from The Sisterhood.

There was clear characterisation but the list of named characters is long so I can’t mention you all I’m afraid. Keira Gibson was a commanding Morgan Le Fay with excellent diction. Paul Gloyne as Valerin was an entertaining mummy’s boy trying to be Elvis. His real life wife, Jess played his mum with energy and hit him with her handbag with glee! I was amused by her popping out from behind the side flats. Frayr Bridgeman was a confident, feisty Guinevere who could handle a sword and wasn’t going to marry the first prince that asked her, but was won over by gentle Prince Arthur played by Andy McMillan. Andy had some lovely facial expressions and a warm tone to his voice.

King Uther, David Smithet, was a strong character who had good comedy timing with the chorus. Racheal Godfrey and Lucy Glover were endearing and funny as Laughalot and Nell.  Adam Todd led the chaos as Connie Clatterbottom, however he seemed a little nervous until he (or should that be she) sang the Big, Blonde and Beautiful number. Sizzle the Dragon was expertly kept under control by Samuel Clarke. Rob Fernall as Marlon had great physicality in all his moves and he managed his double act with Garlon the Invisible Knight very well.The different groups of performers all had their chance to shine at some point in the story and the variety of dances showed their talents in different genres of music.

The company built set gave the performers as much space as possible and the changes were very slick. On the whole the props were fairly simple but I must mention the detail in Merlin’s laboratory. Dry ice and fairy lights were used to great effect and brought another dimension to the potion bottles on the shelves. I also liked the way Sizzle’s eyes lit up.

The costumes were excellent too; once again there was real attention to detail. I laughed at Marlon’s ears poking through his helmet and approved of Guinevere’s hint of armour. Everyone wore footwear appropriate to their character and make-up and hair styles added glamour and sparkle.

The colours of the lighting helped us to spot the goodies and the baddies and the use of flashes and dry ice gave us atmosphere. The singing was balanced and the sound effects were good. The projections at the side of the stage helped us to know where the scenes were happening and to read the magical messages.

A last minute cast change was announced due to illness, but the audience wouldn’t have known otherwise. I hope he makes a quick recovery. This production had lots of silly gags for the children, and puns for the adults but stayed appropriate for the ages of the cast. We were warmly welcomed by the front of house team, met some of the cast and society officers and even had a back stage tour. Thank you for a very enjoyable night out Saffron Players.

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