Dick Whitington

My first visit to Bishopsteignton Panto was last year and it was the funniest panto I saw that season so I was greatly looking forward to this years presentation. It was an added bonus that our National President was also present at the performance – something I had not been aware of in advance. I was also suffering from a very heavy cold and feeling quite rough, but this show cheered me up no end. 

The group has only been running for about 4 years and the brains behind the operation is James Day, a local publican, who wrote this years script and also directed and starred as the dame. The Village Hall here is not big and space is very limited but front of house arrangements were well administered with refreshments available. Back stage space is so limited that the junior cast have to sit at the rear of the auditorium. This they did with a good deal of professionalism, and I think the chaperones might have greatly aided this behaviour !! 

The local audience clearly know what to expect and the atmosphere was very good, so the show was immediately on a good footing as the audience were up for everything on offer.

All music is on tracks as there is no room (or funds) for musicians, and these are operated from a position just to the side of the stage in the front of the hall. The lighting technician and a prompt also sit there and are as much a part of the production as the cast. Part of the immense fun of this pantomime is that if anything does go wrong, the cast and team play up to the mistake and make it part of the show. At one point the prompt was a bit slow in prompting, leading to a very comical lambasting by the dame (director). Some of these interjections were the high spot of the show. I must point out that things didn’t go wrong that often, but if a line was dropped or something went slightly wrong it was well covered by the cast incorporating it into the fun. As a result the audience loved these moments. 

However that is not to say it was a sloppy production which was under rehearsed because it most definitely was not. The stage is tiny but the show was well directed to ensure that at no time did the stage ever feel cluttered. Cast made entrances from front portals at either side of the stage or the 2 side entrances on stage, and the action easily flowed out into the auditorium. The junior cast entered either from the rear of the hall, or on one occasion were found on stage so must have toddled along the village street to get there. 

The fairy was depicted flying to her duties, by a doll dressed as the fairy that flew across the front of the hall, in a rather chaotic fashion, but to the great amusement of the audience. 

Sarah The cook, the dame character, is played by the director, and writer, and is the mainstay of the production. He is quite a tall character, and in his heels, towered over the stage, sometimes having to stoop to ensure wigs or head dresses did not get caught. He is the master of the ad lib and covered any errors with ease and great fun. I can imagine that as the publican in the village, he is rather well known locally as his entrance was greeted with a lot of familiarity from the audience. 

His costumes were magnificent, as they were for all the characters. This was a well dressed production thanks to the large costume team. While on the look of the show, there was a fair amount of scenery as well, which was well painted and looked great up on the tiny stage. Clearly this was a small pantomime with some much bigger ambitions. 

All the cast were well chosen and had clearly worked very hard on their characters, with a clear aim of amusement of the audience. I loved Fairy Bo-Bells. I loved this actress last year as well. She is vivacious and very good looking (am I allowed to still say that) and gives a very polished performance, with a big nudge nudge wink wink. She had great stage presence, as did everyone and carried out her job of opening the show and establishing the mood very well indeed.

Opposite her was King Rat, a nice sly (as opposed to evil) presence, greatly enjoyed by the audience. 

Alice Fitzwarren gave a lovely performance which suited principal girl very well. Often in panto this role can be a bit bland, but this actress gave it more guts than usual. 

Dick Whittington was played traditionally, by a female, which is very rare these days, and presented a fine upstanding figure fighting against evil to win the girl and save the day. 

Alderman Fitzwarren is another role that can sometimes be a bit of a side thought, but this gent had good input into the production. 

I really loved Dippy Deirdre. Last year this actress played a stand up cow and without any dialogue managed to almost upstage everyone. Here she displayed good comic timing and her frustration in the shop scene was very comical as she constantly had to struggle to the top shelf for sweets. The kids in this scene gave their dialogue very well indeed. 

Captain Croak and Seaman Steve were a nice comical pair who worked well together. 

The cat was called Fannie. This was the cause of much amusement with the audience and obviously some nice little jokes !!  I don’t know what the fuss is about, my aunt had an old cat called Fannie back in the 60s and 70s. I can clearly recall, as a ten year old, asking my aunt how her fannie was !!!  Those were the days !!! Anyway, this Fannie made a mark very well on the production.

The Sultan has to wait an age to make his appearance, and he presented a nicely bemused air of someone invaded by a lot of rather questionable characters. 

The children in the show were very well drilled indeed and gave very professional performances. I gather the actress playing Fairy was responsible for this and a great job she did. They had a couple of very good numbers which were well staged. Most pantomimes feature children and sometimes their contribution can be a bit cringe worthy, but definitely not here – they were as professional as the adults. 

There was a good choice of musical numbers ranging from traditional to modern and baby shark made a re-appearance. However one of the highlights was If I were not upon this stage. This was well drilled and laugh out loud funny. The show finale was Don’t Stop Me Now which was a great up beat ending. 

Once again this was one of the most entertaining pantomimes I saw this season. The hospitality was exceptional, the atmosphere electric, and the entertainment excellent. All the elements of pantomime were there, the cast clearly knew how to work the material, it was well directed, the kids were great, music well chosen, costumes suitably colourful and glittery and the comic characters knew how to work the audience. In addition it was not too long, and the script moved along at a fair pace as nothing outstayed its welcome. 

All in all, another excellent evening and I look forward to the next. 

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