Dick Whittington

The tale of the poor lad seeking his fortune and eventually becoming Lord Mayor of London always has an appeal and this production gave the story all the fun and games necessary for a good evening at the Panto.

Characters abound in this genre and all were well presented by the talented cast.  Let’s start with the good and evil side.  Sue Talmadge gave us a delightful Fairy Bow-Bells who was determined that there would be a happy ending, but Queen Rat was always about to try to ensure that this didn’t happen.  This was a very stylish Queen Rat played by Helen Griffin deserving all the boos and hisses from the audience for her evil ways.  She was accompanied by her two bumbling stalwarts, Rat-Nap and Kick-Rat,  Cris Haniver and Alicia Jay making full use of the comedy involved.

Nicola Cullen played Alice Fitzwarren as a feisty principal girl well paired with Hope-Marie Henderson as the hero of the piece.  The rapport between them really shone through.  Everyone loves the cat in this panto and Charlotte Brooks was a charming and wonderfully athletic Tommy.

Trevor Fuggle took on the roles of Alice’s Dad, Alderman Fitzwarren and The Sultan of Morocco with panache and where would panto be without a Dame?  Chris Thompson fitted the bill admirably – a lovely cheeky performance complemented by the antics of Laura Catchpole as Idle Jack.  Adam Riggs completed the cast in style as the Alderman’s brother, Captain Horatio Fitzwarren.

Good choice of songs throughout, all well sung and the lively Band, led by Michelle Radley made a great sound.  The Sue Wood Dancers added to the whole piece with their lovely dancing with Hannah Buck as Ensemble.

Before all the above can happen on stage, the Creative Team have a massive amount of work to do, starting with the actual writing of the script by your Chairman Ryan Tate and the article in the well presented programme on “Opening a Panto from an Idea to the Polegate Stage” was very interesting.  There are so many people involved in the backstage activities, ensuring that all goes without a hitch.

So, onwards and upwards to your fiftieth panto to be performed in 2021 and in the meantime congratulations to all involved with the Creative Team for bringing this magical tale to Polegate in 2020.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.