Dick Whittington

This year is Blackmore’s 50th anniversary and their annual pantomime is a great way to start this celebratory year. They had a strong cast of Principals and a good supporting ensemble.

It is expected, from pantomime, that the principals will be somewhat over the top and this cast were, absolutely, spot on in this respect.   Ryan Stevens gave a great performance as King Rat, he didn’t hold back and was the complete panto villain from the start.   Sarah Neary was excellent as Fairy  Goodwill.   This may have been her first ‘part’ but she performed like a seasoned actor, getting the audience involved and giving a strong performance.   Sarah Taylor played Dick with great style, a perfect Principal Boy and Lucia Rawlings was delightful as Alice.  Rosemarie Nelson played Tom the cat beautifully.

Keith Goody has made the part of the Dame his own at Blackmore and it is always a joy to see the attention to detail he puts into his character.  James Hughes was excellent as Idle Jack, a great characterisation and a beautiful performance.  The three comedy characters, Itchy, Scratchy and Bro, played by Hilary Martin, Thomas Hughes and Linda Raymond respectively were terrific.  Each having their own character, all played to their fullest.  Finally, Craig Stevens who played three characters, Alderman Fitzwarren, Captain Fishear and The Sultan.  Quite a formidable task, but Craig created a completely different persona for each, all of them very entertaining.

With the excellent ensemble to complete the cast, this production was thoroughly entertaining.  There were some problems with the mics and we were privy to some back stage chatter that we really should not have heard! 

My main criticism is about the length of the production.   The first half lasted an hour and a half, and that’s just too long for any show particularly a pantomime where there are children in the audience.  The second half was shorter, but it was still three hours in the theatre (with the interval).  I noted at least one mother and young child left at the interval and didn’t return.  That’s a shame because panto is an excellent introduction to the theatre for children.

The costumes were beautiful and, as there was no credit to an outside supplier, I assume they were made by the ladies credited in the programme.  Costumes are my personal ‘thing’ and it was lovely to see these beautiful creations.  Congratulations to Rosemarie Nelson, Margaret Boreham and Yvonne Jepson.  The special effects makeup was beautifully done, congratulations to Lianne Brown.  The set was excellent, perfect for this small stage and smoothly transitioned.

Overall a very enjoyable, if slightly long, evening’s entertainment.

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