Dick Whittington

Being a big kid at heart I have always loved Pantomimes and as always Wales Community Theatre Players, as they are now known since combining Wales Methodist Church Pantomime Players with Wales Musical Theatre Company, have once again come up trumps.

Once again this panto was under the direction of Nick Challenger who not only directed and co-wrote the show but also played Sarah the Cook, a larger than life character who each time he/she entered the stage wore a more outlandish dress. Nick was able to bring his character to life and also has a great rapport with the audience especially the younger ones when they came on stage for the “panto song”, I have to say he handled one young lad really well on the night I was there, it appeared the one in question wanted to grab all the limelight and Sarah’s backside.

All pantos require a good principal boy and girl and this one had a duo who worked extremely well together, Alison Wade as Dick Wittington and Hollie Riley as Alice Fitzwarren, they both had great voices which blended well and complimented each other not only in their songs but also in their dialogues.

Lee Phillips also proved himself to be a first rate Simple Simon, bringing the mirth and merriment to the part alongside Dan Schofield as Idle Jack, again this teaming worked really well to get the most out of their respective parts.

Another good pairing in this panto was that of Philip Burgess and Martin Crowther as Boris the Bosun and Billy the Bilge Pump respectively, these two always work well together to provide a good amount of comedy being knocked and pushed around stage like true professionals.

Providing the good and bad aspects of the panto were Lynne Schofield as a superb Fairy Bowbells and Ann Mann as a very evil Queen Rat, again this was a good partnership and they were able to bounce off each other throughout the whole show.

Other parts which were also played to the full were Shaun Bradley as Alderman Fitzwarren, Dave Froggatt as The Sultan of Morocco and Eve Rowles who played a superb Tommy the Cat.

As we all know during their voyage to Morocco the Saucy Sal on which they travelled encounters a terrific storm and sinks, after the sinking we were treated to a brilliant 3D underwater film where we saw puffer fish, Sea Horses, Octopus and various Swordfish and Piranhas who appeared to jump out from the screen, excellent.

Many congratulations to everyone involved in this superb panto. 

 

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