Dick Whittington

After a lovely welcome from the Front of House team and a long chat to Director Nicola Sandall, we took our excellent seats. A quick glance through the programme revealed that we were going to be travelling on quite a journey with Dick Whittington and his cat.

The opening dance number, Welcome to the Jungle, cleverly introduced us to the entire dance troupe, a great way for some of the youngsters to perhaps overcome their stage nerves and burn off some energy. The colourful costumes with energetic and well co-ordinated dancing made for a great start.

We were then gradually introduced to the cast. Pantomime Dame, Bobby Herman as Sarah the Cook commanded the stage with much energy, numerous colourful costumes and wonderful wigs, great audience interaction and some naughty, but harmless antics. We both laughed a lot! The stage relationship between Dick Whittington (Angela Greaves) and Alice Fitzwarren (Carrie Miller) was just right, not too sugary and I was please to see that there was not too much thigh slapping. I thought Angela’s rendition of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough was particularly strong and credit her also to the back-stage team, led by Stage Manager Malcolm Holmes, for the scene change during this and other numbers – they were all completed speedily and without any sounds being heard in the auditorium. In fact, the entire show flowed very well, there were no ‘eggy’ moments with the audience waiting for the next scene to begin.

Kitty, Poppy Brewster, was a delightful cat, with wonderful make-up and feline movement. I also thoroughly enjoyed the antics of the spies -   I, Spy, With, My, Little, Eye – played by Tilly Chisholm, Emily Hales, Sophie Hudson, Niall McGarrity, Mia Silva Medd and Courtney Stone. There was great interaction between them, quick dialogue exchanges and strong singing.

Andrew Downing and Ian Hall as Alderman Fitzwarren and Bosun Bowleg made for a great double act along side the Dame and Justine McGarrity was the embodiment of an earnest Girl Guide Leader. The audience enjoyed booing the wicked Esmeralda and King Rat played by Megan Roberts and Tim Hind, I liked that this was not done in a way which diverted us away from the story line. Lighting was wonderfully green for their scenes and in fact was good throughout.

The second Act started with a great rendition of Rolling in the Deep sung with enthusiasm and tuneful harmonies. This was followed by a dance number which is becoming very popular in Pantos – Jai Ho. The Inters and Seniors were able to demonstrate their dancing and acrobatic skills very well throughout the show. The next two songs, 7 Rings and Vossi Bop brought Panto-land completely up to date, with some well-articulated rapping and excellent Street Commercial dancing.

The entrance of The Sultan, Andrew Cleaver and Maneeta, Sarah Dorson, who with Jeeves, Josh Roberts, their Spamalot-esque sidekick complete with coconuts and a perfect look of disdain about everything was extremely funny. There were some very clever and amusing ‘goings-on’ happening especially between Sarah the Cook, Bosun Bowleg and Jeeves.

The audience participation and traditional ‘he’s behind you’ was most definitely loved by all the audience, especially the children and was well handled by the cast and Senior dancers.

The finale was a well-choreographed routine showcasing all the groups and reminded us that there were over 80 members in this company, from the age of 2 upwards. Looking through the programme I can see that not only do SPP put on a true Family Pantomime, but they are also a company of many families coming together to enjoy their pastime.  Thank-you for a lovely afternoon.

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