Dick Whittington

I was pleased to be invited to the opening night of a community theatre pantomime and was delighted to discover that it was both a polished and happy show. The village hall was bedecked with red and gold streamers and held an excited family audience who were very responsive throughout. The script by Warren McWilliams was full of ‘Dad Jokes’ and avoided the cringe worthy double entendres that this particular pantomime can provoke!

The production had many strengths and was extremely well rehearsed. Most importantly the company had a wide age range but it felt cohesive and they performed as one, with focus, energy and commitment. This is credit to Melanie Elgar who directed both the singing and acting. Whole company numbers were well chosen, popular classics such as Bring it all Back, Never gonna give you up and Jai Ho. These were sung joyfully by all, whilst dancing in time - performing long choreographed sequences by Amalee Gamache and Laura Hillier. The tracks were well timed, and microphones were balanced by Heather Chatfield.

The whole cast had a lovely variety of costumes sourced by Cara Turner and Melanie Elgar. The Dame had fabulous dresses throughout and even the ensemble had three changes of costume from cotton shifts to sailor stripes, to middle Eastern ’Xanadu’ dress. The chorus was used well. I particularly enjoyed the storm sequences and tableaux and a standout moment of the little rats Alex Lapham and Marie Groden whose facial expressions and dancing during Rock Your Body were very engaging.

The set was simple, composed of a series of reversable painted flats, but great care had been taken with the details which reflected the humour of the piece. I spotted a pot of ‘tartan paint’ on a shelf in Alderman Fitzwarren’s shop! The lighting by Dominic Lawrence worked well with different washes throughout and coloured spots for Fairy Bowbell and King Rat .

Neil Edwards as Dame Dora was a personal favourite performance. Their endearing, gentle manner worked much better than the stereotypical brash acting choices usually employed for a dame. Kenny Menet-Hawkins as Idle Jack and the Dame worked well together and were suitably silly. The Boy does Nothing sequence was a highlight and the audience ‘call responses’ of the dame sneezing and ‘Hello Dave’ were handled smoothly and effectively.

Louise Chaplin as Fairy Bowbell and Simon Gadd as King Rat delivered their rhyming couplets and individual songs with confidence. I particularly liked Eliza Elliott’s makeup for King Rat. Cara Turner as Alice Fitzwarren and Betty Lapham as Captain Gordon Scuttlebutt brought good energy and comic timing to the piece. Jo Knox as Alderman Fitzwarren, Denise Hillier as Tommy the cat and the Sultan and Sultana Dan Edwards and Trisha Groden performed good supporting roles.

All the lead actors had good voices, but Ligia Schuurman as Dick Whittington was a standout performer delivering beautifully controlled vocals. She helped to drive the energy of the production. She provided great support for those around her, helping them relax into their roles on this opening night performance. A testament to the company’s confidence was their calm control, navigating evacuating the audience for a tripped smoke alarm halfway through Dick’s song in Act 2, and then restarting the sequence professionally 5 minutes later.

Woodfield Entertainers gave an enjoyable, polished performance of a family show with the unexpected bonus of advertising NODA on the back of their programme!

Thank you for a lovely evening.

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