Dick Whittington

Lyndhurst Drama and Musical Society are now celebrating 75 years of theatre in the town and have their own Vernon Theatre. They are starting the year off with the annual pantomime Dick Whittington by James Barry.

There is a good mix of music, audience interaction and comedy. Some very witty lines between the Dame and Alderman etc. A good all round family fun pantomime brought to life by an enthusiastic cast. Directors Debbie Murray & Hannah Rogers have a good cast, there is a nice mix of adult and youth cast taking part. The set is simple and effective and is nicely painted, changing easily between scenes. Lighting and sound are also good, I liked the green lighting for the King Rat. The costumes are bright and colourful, I loved the children’s rat costumes.

We start by meeting the evil villian King Rat, superbly played by Mike Watson, nicely dressed in top hat and tails, and his tail lights up, a nice touch. The audience are soon booing and hissing his every word. The children played the rats following their leader dressed like (Peeky) Squiky Blinders, I really liked the way the children held their faces with twitching nose and showing their front teeth just like rats. Fairy Bowbells was played by stand-in Stevie Parker she has a great way with the audience, a cheeky cockney accent and expressive face. I liked the blue wig and silver curlers. (Hilary Causey I hope feels better soon). Matilda Wilks is a charming Dick Whittington, she has a lovely smiling face and comes across well. Michele Arkle plays the cat "meow, meow, meow purr meow" - she is great sidekick to Dick & good in the role, the children in the audience loved the cat. Elspeth Dyer takes the part of Alice Fitzwarren she is very good in the role and works well with Matilda. Shawn Condra is very good taking on Dame Dolly Dumpling. His brilliant smiling face and cheeky twinkle in his eye, easily gets the story across and the audience are with him straight away, the witty lines are funny and well delivered and easily have two meanings one for the adults and one for the kids, very clever. Vic Milne has his hands full playing three characters, but this also comes over brilliantly. He is the more serious Alderman, to the bumbling Captain Barnacle, then the flamboyant Sultan Vinegar. Again he has some great lines, especially with the Dame Dolly and he manages to resist her charm. The ensemble cast – Will Baker, Imogen Barnett, Ruby Kendrick, Dylan Murray, and Madeleine Murray – fill in all the other roles as Rats, Sailors, Palace Servants and Townsfolk , they all seem to be having a great time and this really comes over well to the audience. Well done to you all. 

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