Dick Whittington

The fantastical retelling of the four hundred years old true story of Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London, has been one of our favourite pantomimes since Joseph Grimaldi introduced Dame Cicely Suet in 1814.  The classic panto storyline of poor boy meets rich girl, and has to make his fortune via an exotic adventure so he can marry the girl of his dreams, is told through vibrant song and dance, comedy and spectacle.  St Blazey AOS’s now established production team brought their talents together again to offer an explosion of energy and colour in another successful show.

The bold, professionally provided scenery for the various scenes was manoevred with ease and a black traveller covered the changes while giving a front of tabs space for the action to continue. The styling gave a cohesive cartoon-like look to the show that emulated children’s story books in a comfortable and homely way to appeal to the young in all of us, as well as accommodating the actions of the performers in a safe environment. Lighting this visually attractive backdrop to the narrative was a richly flamboyant plot that gave us a rainbow of colours in floods, searchlights and shafts, with stormy lightning flashes and a few well-timed blinders to disguise scene-drops, plus the use of smoke haze to diffuse the tones and add atmosphere to the height of the stage. The sound was spot on: an impressive balance between the beautifully arranged backing tracks and the vocals allowed every word to be heard crystal clear. There appeared to be appropriate technical use of the microphones from all on stage with everyone projecting well and avoiding distortions by not pushing too hard, and the sound effects that peppered the story were at a good volume and promptly cued. An array of costumes paraded across the stage in an impressive collection that greatly added to the overall spectacle of a colourful show that ended with an extravagant finale. 

The musical numbers showed originality and stretched the cast. One Fine Day was an impressive company opener with infectious energy that set a high bar.  This was pleasingly maintained throughout with well-rehearsed singing from all, discreetly bumped up with the double tracking that adds so much depth.  The solos and duets demonstrated confident delivery with some melodious harmonies. Varying the tempos and styles challenged Choreographer Nicki Murphy to delve into her repertoire for gymnastic moves, e.g. cartwheels - solo and partner, walkovers, helicopter flies, Hornpipe steps and modified Moroccan belly dancing, as well as conventional musical theatre dance moves.  The less able were accommodated and the more able were challenged so that we had a lively and interesting visual staging with good use of the various levels available.

Secure casting, skilful blocking of the large company with prompt entrances and swift exits, and imagination were in evidence, as well as novel touches like introducing a trap door into the stage for the appearance of the rats, local references, and the clockwork rat to end.  We saw the inclusion of standard panto set pieces: the oft-repeated “Hello, Jack”, noisy “Oh, yes it is!”,  nifty sword combat, running gag, timely freezes, slick stretcher routine, all working well, …and the ‘difficult to carry off’ slosh scene, and it was clear that all of us in the good-sized audience loved every minute judging by the enthusiastic applause. 

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