Dick Whittington

He came through the auditorium, stopped at the front, blew his horn three times, bowed and addressed the Mayor with the words “Mr. Mayor, the watch is set”.  No, not a part of the script, more of an interruption, but all part of a tradition dating back over 1000 years whereby, shortly after 9p.m. every night, the Wakeman provides the Mayor with this assurance wherever he/she might be in the city.  Since she had joined us at this performance, we were all able to witness the ancient ceremony.

With King Rat by now causing some trouble on stage, the same could not be said of Whittington’s trip to London and, after a brief “now then, where were we?”, we returned to the plot of this group’s 39th fund-raising production. There were some amusing moments and I particularly enjoyed the role of a spin doctor (Meddlesome/Serena Bean) whose task, in the pre-twitter days in which we found ourselves, was to take the sting out of some of the more controversial statements of the Lord Mayor of London. The Grand Vizier (Jane Taylor), working for the Sultan of Morocco also provided several laughs with her efforts at translation.  There could perhaps have been more topical and/or local additions to an original script with which the Director had been involved as a performer elsewhere in the past but, although a little lengthy, it made for an entertaining evening.

All of the principals made the most of their roles, from a confident Dick (Beth Edwards, a veteran of several productions with the group but now returning after a period at University) to a debutant, in Ripon anyway, Ian Holloway, as a villainous King Rat.  Otherwise, we were treated to good performances by several familiar Ripon stalwarts, including Ryan Stocks as Dusty Buster, working wonders with his tickling-stick and a somewhat fragile Dyson. The usual double act of Cath Colman and Joanne Johnson as Bubble and Squeak (mice disguised as rats) had fewer opportunities to cause havoc this year but seized every opportunity to do so. The script allowed Dick’s Cat to have more of a life of its own, including a trip to Morocco, and Katie Plunkett moving from chorus to her first principal role made an excellent job of it. Sophie McCudden as Alice followed in the footsteps of her two elder sisters in taking a principal role.

Overall I enjoyed the production and, although I have had problems with the sound balance and backing tracks drowning singers in previous years, there was a great Improvement this year. Sound and lighting, which was also well handled, were the work of Anthony Smith and Thomas Whitelegg. I must also pay tribute to some good work by Emma Money, now a sixth former at Ripon Grammar School, who, after three years as a leading lady here, this time used her skills to lead the chorus in her own dance routines.      

Hopefully, another £2000 or so will soon be on its way to benefit local charities as a result of the group’s efforts. What an entertaining way of achieving this result.

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