Dick McWhittington

This show is a new one on me, and to everyone else as it was both written and directed by Stuart Stokell. He was commissioned by the Company to provide the panto for this year and what an excellent job he made of it. A Scottish slant on the traditional Dick Whittington story.

Centre Stage have an enviable reputation for putting on a well-polished and professional production. This show was no exception to this rule.

It had pace, comedy and a bit of pathos but mainly a feel-good factor that transferred from the cast on to the audience. The set mainly built by themselves and the colourful backdrops all added to the performances. I particularly liked the ships mast. Scene changes were slick and the "canned" music suited the show very well. The whole of the cast thoroughly enjoyed the panto as was evident by their enthusiasm and slick timing. I thought that the singing in this show was as good as I have heard from this Company.

The casting well suited the characters who performed. They were all very relaxed and comfortable in their roles as evidenced by the occasional ad libs and throw away lines that are inevitable in a panto. Everyone dealt well with these and the interaction with the audience was excellent.

Luke Bell played the part of Dick with aplomb and it is great to have seen him grow in confidence and theatrical stature over the years. His sidekick Nessie the Cat was excellent. Played by Finlay Eagleson, (who was also Assistant Director). His part was super with very good timing and stage presence, and he played the support role to Dick really well.

The Story goes like this. Dick and Nessie have gone to Edinburgh to find fame and fortune but down on their luck head home to Langholm where they meet Alice, The Provost's daughter. (Ashleigh Calvert) played her part very demurely but with good strength. Love blossoms but Dick is just a poor boy and has no prospects. She gets them a job in her father’s shop and are tasked with guarding his Provost's chain. Callum Jeffrey as the Provost was suitably bumbly. In the meantime, Sally, Dicks mum appears on the scene. Les Murray is the epitome of the panto dame and I have to say he is one of the best I have seen. His comic timing is excellent and his general demeanour tells all. Dick and Nessie fall asleep after a hard day’s work and the shop gets burgled by King Rat. (Nicky Henderson) was suitable evil as the baddy, made more so by the exceptional makeup he had. It must have taken a long time to put on each performance. He has a great stage presence. Provost McSporran, Alice's dad, is not happy and agrees that he will give his daughters hand in marriage to whoever finds the chain. Dick promises to find the chain and return it. They set off on an adventure which takes them to a tropical island with cannibals and a man hungry Queen. My nefarious means the Queen ends up falling in love with King Rat and Dick recovers the Chain and returns it to the Provost. His prize to marry his daughter leads them to live happily ever after.

The whole of the cast from the little ratlings (King Rats henchmen) to the main principals were all super. While I could go on at length about the various individual parts, suffice to say everyone was excellent and I could not find a weak link in the cast. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Thanks you all at Centre Stage.

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