Cinderella

Cinderella ... a pantomime staged by Mawdesley Amateur Dramatics Society at Mawdesley Village Hall, Hurst Green, Mawdesley on Friday 29th November 2024.

The ‘Cinderella’ story is the quintessential ‘rags to riches’ folk tale; a favourite of many children and a personal favourite of mine! I’ve spent the best part of forty years being involved in the production and staging of pantomimes and the last thirty-one years playing pantomime dames - ‘Oh No you haven’t, Oh Yes I have’, so I think I can honestly say that ‘pantomime’ has become part of my life! It was a cold, damp, dark, dreary Friday evening when I attended Mawdesley Village Hall to see Mawdesley’s production of Cinderella, but all that changed as soon as those curtains parted! Performing in front of a ‘full house’, within minutes they had us laughing along with the jokes and the escapades that never stopped throughout this production. This classic tale tells the story of a young girl, Cinderella, whose father remarries after the death of her mother.  ‘Cinders’ find herself at the mercy of her stepmother and her much scheming step-sisters, but she never gives up hope!  She meets an
old lady in the woods and then a dashing young man and her fortunes begin to change!

Production Team ... this version of this classic tale was both written and directed by Mawdesley very own Adrian Barradell with assistance from Debbie Wells as Co-Director. I am always envious of people who can put ‘pen to paper’ and create a script, it must be so rewarding to see your vision, your thoughts come to life on stage... and come to life they did!  Musical Direction was in the hands of Judi Blakemore. This panto had all the elements that make a traditional family panto and if I’m honest, they’re the type of panto’s that I really enjoy, including loads of comedy, slap stick humour, interesting characters, interesting scenes, some planned, others possibly not (ahahahahaha and I’ll touch on those later) ... but I think I can say without contradiction, that everyone who attended the evening 
that I did, left Mawdesley Village Hall thoroughly entertained, aching from laughing and with a ‘huge smile’ still on their faces and you really can’t ask for more! 

The Cast ... I’ve said this many times recently, but I did feel the success of this production wasn’t down to an individual, but down to the whole cast pulling together and looking like they were having the time of their lives, which is an essential element especially when you’re performing in a panto. Energy, effort and enthusiasm were there from the start and continued throughout.  All the cast, principals, supporting characters and the ensemble were well cast and suited their roles ever so well.  So, if I may, I’d like to first identify all cast members and then ‘stick the old neck out’ and give a few shout outs to MY favourites characters, other will have their own opinions on this, but these are mine ... ‘Cinderella’ was played by Jolee Poole; ‘Prince Charming’ – Rosie Furzeman; Dandini - Thomas Robertshaw; ‘Buttons’ - Joy Owen; Baron Hardup - Fin Robertson; ‘Baroness Hardup’ – Karen Henty; ‘Fairy Godmother’ – Emma Meen; ‘Hyacinth’ / ‘Lowercinth’ –  Mark Hill / Phil Quinn (Ugly Sisters);  Major Domo - Clive Hepplestone;  we had three duo’s of Money lenders Bella Duncanson & Lottie Hill / Maisie Hill & illHilFinlay Quinn / Ella Roe & Thomas Robinson; ‘Herald’ – Ollie Taylor; ‘Madam Olga’ – Jennie Owen; a trio of ‘Sprites’ – Ella Roe, Eleanor Irish, Bella Duncanson; a trio of ‘Ghosts’ who created mayhem in the ‘he’s behind you scene’ Joshua Donkin, Finlay Henty, and Ollie Taylor; and an ensemble (who haven’t previously been identified) including Villagers, Mice and Cinderella’s friends ... Amelie Hill, Eleanor Irish, Robin Owen, Joshua Quinn, Molly Waring, as previously stated all suited their roles and gave us all they had. We also had two unnamed ‘Money Lenders’ in the production... nowhere to be found in the programme, ex Chair Hilda McAughey and Tommy Train... their arrival brought the house down!  ‘Shout Outs’ ... let’s start with ‘Hyacinth’ and ‘Lowercinth’ aka Mark Hill and Phil Quinn who did a great job with the ‘uglies’. They had us in stiches throughout this production, both creating good characters who ‘bounced’ of each other (sometimes literally) ever so well. Mannerisms, facial expressions, great interaction with the audience, which is vital for these roles to succeed ... be very proud guys, you worked your socks off and got the rewards.  Emma Meen did a great job as the super cool, matter of fact Fairy Godmother ... it really never looked like anything or anyone could have disturbed her flow.  Emma created this larger-than-life character who had great stage presence, solid diction, her mannerisms and movement were just right... a perfect fit for the role, be proud Emma!  Finally, two youngsters Joy Owen, aged twelve, who played ‘Buttons’ and Thomas Robertshaw aged thirteen, who played ‘Dandini’ (two really important roles in any production of Cinderella). These two young people belied their years... confident, assured, both with a real presence on stage. They kept in character throughout, never looked in awe of the situation they found themselves in and worked ever so well with all the cast as well as interacting ever so well with the audience. I think it’s great to see young people being given the chance to work alongside more experienced actors, gaining experience whilst grabbing an opportunity, doing that in any walk of life is a great thing, but when they can stand on a stage, alongside their elders and characterise a character as well as they did... I think Mawdesley’s future is in safe hands!  

Stage/Set/Tech ...  Mawdesley Village Hall has a smallish stage, every inch of which was used to set and stage this production, so credit goes to Set Designer, Tony McAughey and his Constriction Team ... Stuart Taylor, Matt Robinson and Mark Jenkinson. Working the stage ... we had Chris Hill (Stage Manager) and Julie Banks (Crew). Lighting Design was in the safe hands of Paul Taylor with Sound and Lighting being cared for by Evan Taylor and Matthew Hutcheon.

Costumes/Props were first rate and enhanced the production ever so much. Costumes ... supplied
by The Costume Store and looked after by Jane Tingle... Props were excellent and used well ... under the watchful eye of Jane Tingle, Jo Donkin, Kerry Mawdsley.

Interesting scene... planned, possibly not!  As I left the Village Hall after the show, I had a brief conversation with Laura, who apologised for things that didn’t go quite right ... NEVER BE WORRIED ABOUT THINGS GOING WRONG IN PANTO ... honestly I was almost crying with laughter when the ‘Baron’ tumbled onto and broke the bed and then when the ‘uglies’ where rolling around on the floor, one almost rolling off the stage, with wigs akimbo ... (PS I haven’t a clue where the false leg ended up) and then during all that turmoil, to see the Baroness trying to replace the wigs without success... it honestly was classic panto, I would have kept it in for the following performances, but you’d have never got it as funny as that again and then when the Baron returned a couple of scenes later and announced to the audience .... ‘I’ve fixed the bed’ ... the place was in an uproar!  As long as no one gets injured and you carry on regardless, which is what happened ... its ‘Panto Gold’ ... bottle it for next year!  

Mawdesley Amateur Dramatics Society have been celebrating 50 years of their existence. They work out of a village hall which has many limitations, including a small stage, minimal wing space, limited lighting, but that really doesn’t seem to matter, what you get here at Mawdesley is effort, enthusiasm, enjoyment, entertainment!   There’s very much a ‘family feel’ about everything they do, not sure the age range of the panto cast, but I’m going to stick my neck out and suggest 6/8 years through to 60/80, just carry on doing what you’re doing... what a great way to culminate and celebrate your half century!

Thank you so much for inviting me, sorry my wife was unable to attend, and thank you so much for looking after me throughout, appreciated.  Have a great Christmas and I’ll see you all again in 2025,
to commence the next half century!

Stay Safe, Keep well
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
District 6 Rep
NODA North West

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.