Cinderella

This was my first visit to the North side of District Four, so I was on unfamiliar ground.  However, my partner and I had a lovely warm welcome from Watlington Players’ Secretary Debbie and Cyril on Front of House duties.  The Village Hall venue is impressive and there was an interesting display round the walls of Cinderella, Then (1979) and Now (2019).  Then the programme cost 10p now it costs £1.  All things change.  The Watlington Players chose for the 40th Anniversary of their first panto to re-visit Margaret Mould’s version of this famous story written in 1979 with the script and many of the songs used then and reworked forty years on.  Updates included a guest appearance of Donald Trump! 

Shows don’t just happen. A lot of people, seen and unseen, put in a lot of effort to bring a show to performance.  I am going to begin by complimenting the Set Design and Construction Team and especially Scenic Artists Claire Cooper and Hugh Pearce on the absolutely splendid settings.  Congratulations too, to the hardworking stage crew under the guidance of Stage Manager Richard Bennett.  It didn’t look as of there was much space back there. The lighting (Jay Lord, Cameron Lewis, Kevin Rooney) was good as was the sound (apart from the escaped coach horse) by Georgia Smith and Kevin Rooney.  The myriad of costumes in the hands of Judy Parsons and Kate Carpenter were beautiful and colourful.  Cinderella’s ball gown brought “Oohs” from the audience. 

Philly Macfarlane’s choreography was of necessity fairly basic given numbers and the obvious limit on space but it was carried out well and I enjoyed the dream sequence with Prince Charming and Cinderella.  The chorus worked hard and their songs sounded great.  Most of the Principals had a solo which was fine but I did feel some of the songs were extremely long.  The Musicians, Kate Mould, Mike Cooke, Geoff Scullard and Colin Mason did a grand job, never once overpowering the singers.

The large chorus was very good.  They were worked hard and not only handled the songs and dance routines with aplomb, but most of them took on two and in some cases three minor roles. The six young “B” Company members were cute and carried out their roles with obvious enjoyment.  Well done all.

In Hardup Hall Ian Gooda set the tone with his interactive Buttons and had the audience working with him from the off.   Philly Macfarlane in the titular role was first class, showing nice empathy with both Buttons and her father Baron Hardup played just right by Steve Brooks who was in fine voice.  While I thought Nerys Brooks’s Baroness Hardup was very well done I don’t think she was nasty enough to Cinderella, I felt the spitefulness had been rather toned down.  Completing this dysfunctional family was Sam Lord and Andy Lockhart as ugly sisters Phoebe and Gert. They certainly made their presence felt but they were too handsome.  I missed the traditionally grotesque makeup.  

Extra comedy was added by David Brammer and Hugh Pearce as Fred and Bert the Bailiffs who got the sort straw with having to marry Phoebe and Gert.

Although she didn’t put in an appearance for a while Beccy Pooley looked lovely and made a super Fairy Godmother.

Away from the Hardup household we had the royal family and Dandini.  I thought Megan Shorthouse as the Prince was wonderfully regal and she has a good voice.  Megan Abbot was first-rate as Dandini lots of stage presence and a good voice to go with it.   Nice performances too from the King (Leslie Judd) and Queen (Penny Cooke).  These were small roles but nicely done.    

Pantomime is a much more difficult medium that it appears and Director Allan Lord had his work cut out with this huge cast.  I counted 46 names listed in the programme (excluding A Company) And wondered to myself how he managed to bring the show to the stage the first week of a New Year with the inevitable absences which must have occurred through the rehearsal run-up to Christmas with work parties, school shows and the annual festivities.  I take my hat off to Mr Lord as, although the pace fluctuated, there was no way the show appeared under rehearsed.  

Thank you Watlington Players for inviting me to your 40th Anniversary pantomime and providing an enjoyable evening.

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