Dick Whittington

This particular pantomime is indeed one of the best loved ones and is very familiar to me as I directed it myself some years ago. It has all the necessary ingredients to keep the audience entertained.

I don’t know if any changes were made in the script but I felt that the musical number - which was a great full company one - ‘Wake up Beautiful Morning’ would have made a more punchy opening then the one presented. Fairy Bowbells and Queen Rat could then have followed that with their dialogue.

The backcloth of London was striking in blue and black. The other scenes were created quite simply with a doorframe, table, ship's wheel, bollard and props. The suggestion of a staircase going down to the cellar by using a piece of wood, partly hidden behind the table, was really funny and Summer Walia produced a cute little red taxi!

Costumes were fine, Alderman Fitzwarren’s was impressive. The stripey tops are all that’s needed for the ship’s crew and the costumes for the Moroccan scene were brilliantly coloured and sparkly. The Dame's were as they should be --  loud!

The music chosen was a mixture of styles and there was something for everyone (except maybe young children?)

There were some very good performances.

In the role of Sarah, Steve Boor-Black had spot-on timing and bags of confidence, making him an excellent Dame. He had a great rapport with the audience. Samantha gave her usual accomplished performance, this time as the Cockney Fairy Bowbells and with an accent to match. In the title role of Dick Whittington, Amy Aiello acted strongly, her every word could be heard and she looked the part. As Jack, Emma Thacker gave an energy-fuelled performance and must have been utterly exhausted by the end of the evening. Well-done Emma!

The baddy of the piece was Queen Rat, played by Phoebe Bloor-Black. She was certainly quite sinister and acted the part convincingly, but it was sometimes not quite so easy to hear her dialogue because of the accent she used. Her costume was very good. Millie almost stole the show as Tommy the cat and her involvement in the business on stage never flagged. I also liked the fact that she was dressed in period costume of the time. The principal girl in panto is never the most exciting role to play. Emily Ingold played a rather subdued Alice with quiet confidence.

Playing the dual roles of Alderman Fitzwarren and Captain Horatio was Ian Assersohn. I assume that the script was cleverly altered to accommodate the ‘twin’ brothers’ roles? He acquitted himself well in both parts. Karen Budd was imperious as the Empress of Morocco and her diction first class.

I didn’t understand the purpose of the two remaining named characters - perhaps because I know little about football. Nevertheless, Karen and Graham Budd filled in time (maybe that was their purpose?) between scenes and did what they could with the crude Kanya and Sid.

The addition of the four female singers really boosted the chorus numbers and the ladies always had a smile for the audience.

Act Two found the cast aboard the ‘Sweet Marie’ on their way to Morocco. A few extra lighting effects would have helped create the rolling of the ship and re-inforced the storm on the deck  The soft balls, provided by the rats who came down into the audience, helped to create some chaos and it was fun for the audience to take part in the scene.

The mop routine sort of worked but was not pacy enough. Perhaps a couple of the ladies could have been added to pad it out a bit and make it more fun? The singers too could have dressed the stage right, watching the action, so that they could naturally join in singing the sea-shanties.

There was very little choreography in the production; a simple hornpipe using the singers and those able to pick up the moves would have added visually to the scene on deck.

Directing a pantomime is definitely not an easy introduction to stage direction, so congratulations to Stuart for taking on the task - a baptism by fire indeed! I’m sure he was pleased with the results of his directing debut - he and his cast together provided an entertaining pantomime.

Sound and the lighting were suitable.

The programme has a striking cover and contains the necessary information.

Thank you for inviting me to see ‘Dick Whittington’ and for your hospitality on the evening. I always have a super view which really helps and it was good to meet Stuart, Cathy, Sam and Millie at various points in the evening.

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