Dick Whittington and His Cat

Slaidburn Players started 2024 with a wonderful production of the pantomime Dick Whittington and His Cat. This laugh a minute production was fast paced, riotous and colourful.

The story of a young boy, and his cat, who travel to London to find fortune and fame. With the help of His Cat, Tommy, (and the rest of the cast) Dick eventually becomes the Mayor of London. Director and Producer Aldwyth Pearson created a lively, family friendly pantomime that made the audience laugh aloud and sing along with glee. I particularly liked the chorus numbers that encouraged audience participation, classics such as ‘Roll out the Barrel,’ ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ and ‘The Lambeth Walk.’ With a cast of talented players and a comical script, Aldwyth created a pantomime full of hi jinks and mayhem and the audience loved it. With many scene changes, and vibrant stage setting, the audience were transported through the streets of London to Fitzwarren’s Store, then onwards to the deck of the ‘Battered Haddock’ before sailing to Arabia and finally returning to London. Stage Manager, Val Sharp and her stage crew, worked hard and were kept busy. Scene changes were slick and unobtrusive, large changes being done whilst the actors played in front of the main curtains. I thought the ship looked great and the set up with multiple entrances/exits worked well. With the chorus bedecked in naval outfits, and the use of scaffolding, built to create the illusion of decking, this scene looked superb. I wish I had more space to mention crew as they often incorporate set designers, stage builders, painters, and props makers. Believe me, I always notice and appreciate your dedication even if you are not individually mentioned.

Musical Director, Janet Holland, provided all the music for the show. Sat to the side of the stage, just in front of the audience, she played the keyboard nonstop from the start to finish. Never faltering, Janet accompanied all the scenes with background music as well as the lead and chorus numbers. I did like ‘Bad Moon Rising’ whenever the evil Queen Rat made an appearance, the music was always sympathetic to the actor, never overpowering the dialogue and I thought it a great evil character accompaniment. For me, the music was very well thought out, tying in with each scene, the Cockney Medley encouraging the already eager audience to sing and clap along. The chorus looked as though they were enjoying themselves thoroughly whilst singing each number, the choreography set by Issy Bristow was lively and well-rehearsed. Dance routines were fun and energetic and the chorus, a mixture of adults and youths, stayed in character throughout and looked wonderful in their costumes. I enjoyed the hornpipe consisting of the youngest members of the cast, they not only looked cute but moved in unison, a lovely addition to the show.

Hetty Donnelly played Dick Whittington. This role was cast perfectly. Hetty looked great in her costume and gave a strong, confident performance. With a lovely singing voice and clear diction and an abundance of stage presence, Hetty was a pleasure to watch.

Dick didn’t go anywhere without His Cat, Tommy. Kirsty Robinson played this role. For a full skin costume, I was impressed with Kirsty’s ability to convey Tommy’s thoughts and emotions. The head movements and side glances, the body language and dance moves all gave Tommy a personality. Tommy was a lovable, cheeky character, well portrayed from within a head-to-toe costume.

Sarah Parker played Alice Fitzwarren. Sarah gave us a sweet, compliant daughter and a feisty, independent woman all rolled into one. Her diction was clear and well delivered, I particularly enjoyed the change of accents Sarah employed to deceive her father, the Alderman, into thinking she was a cabin boy. Her solo, front of curtain was beautifully sung, with her poise and grace, Sarah gave a memorable performance.

Alderman Fitzwarren was played by Brant Middleton. With his bowler hat and stiff upper lip, Brant portrayed the Alderman with well-timed humour. Brant had quite a few tongue twisting sentences, his comedic enunciation causing ripples of laughter throughout the audience. Brant was jolly funny, never missing a beat.

John Sharp played the dame, Gertrude Sprat. John was excellent in this role, displaying all the traditional attributes of the dame character, whilst keeping it family friendly. Brash and loud, flirty, and witty, John had the audience in stitches with his antics. I particularly enjoyed the ice cream scene. Masked by the door opening and closing, the dame was forced face first into the ice cream stand, reappearing with a face full of ice cream, then with two cones stuck to her forehead. I thought the use of the door to mask the action was highly effective, even with a huge dress on, the dame completely disappeared for a short moment before emerging covered in ice cream. This scene was met with much laughter from the audience.

The dame’s son, ‘Idle’ Jack Sprat was played by Alex West. This was a great role for Alex, I thought the interactions between Jack and the Dame were hilarious. With his cheeky one liners and glances at the audience, the audience were rooting for him to win his lady love, Maisy. When he came on dressed for the hareem, the audience howled with laughter. Alex was a strong performer who held together scenes with ad libs when required. He took the role up a notch from the slightly sappy ‘idle’ Jack characterisation usually portrayed and it worked well. He had excellent comedy timing, great facial expressions, and huge stage presence.

Heather Harrison played Maisy. This was a fabulous role, as the lady love of Jack Sprat, Maisy was also wooed by the Captain. Heather took this role and gave it real substance. Playing a maiden who knows Jack loves her and just wishes he would get to the point, Heather flirted and teased before finally getting her man. Heather gave an excellent portrayal of a woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. Her delivery was strong and witty.

Cutting a fine figure as a Captain Cutlass, Kim-Alexandra Hanley strode out onto the deck of the ‘Battered Haddock’ with a confident gait. Kim-Alexandra flirted with all the ladies and strolled around the deck looking handsome. This was a wonderfully comic role and one which Kim-Alexander portrayed with ease.

Neville Harrison played Sultan Pepper, a man with a thousand wives and very bad eyesight. After claiming Gertrude for his hareem, he finally took Jack’s advise and sought out a pair of spectacles. Neville was very funny in this role, his antics causing much laughter within the audience. He looked like he was having a ball, his enjoyment radiating from him, and as a result the audience warmed to his character instantly.

I absolutely loved the comedy duo of Beau Larrat, played by Issy Bristow, and Beau Lamova, played by Darcie Wilson. Escaped convicts on the run, dressed as foreign Legion soldiers, employed as crew on the ‘Battered Haddock,’ these two were hilarious. I loved the interactions they had with the audience, the glances, and deliberate facial expressions by Issy were a joy to watch. The terrible French accent and complete incompetence of Darcy had the audience rolling around with laughter. These two actors played their roles to perfection.

Lilly Breaks played Fairy Bow Bells. The role of the fairy is to help the main protagonist and narrate the story, often moving the plot line forward. Lilly had long pieces of dialogue, often in rhyme as per panto tradition. These were delivered with clarity and confidence. Lilly was bubbly and effervescent, every inch a panto fairy.

For every pantomime, there is a villain, often seeking to destroy the happiness of everyone else. Linda Blakeman assumed the mantle of Queen Rat, hissing and spewing her malice towards the audience as they booed. Lit in sinister colours, her rat friends on her shoulders, Linda looked like she was relishing playing this character. Her delivery was strong, her dialogue could be heard clearly. An audience favourite, Linda was wonderful in this role.

This pantomime had not one, but two skin roles. Sopwith the camel was played by Christine Scott and Helena Beattie. Sopwith danced front of curtain, which could not have been easy with two people inside the costume. A brilliant comedy performance from Christine and Helena, all the children loved Sopwith and giggled loudly at his silly movements.

Slaidburn Players’ cast and crew had worked hard to bring together this great pantomime. It had a real family feel to it, the story was fast paced and extremely funny, never once slipping into the vulgarities that often appear in productions of Dick Whittington. It was light and jolly, colourful, and exciting. The lighting and sound engineer, Andrew Harrison was kept on his toes with the good/evil lighting, bright for the Fairy Bow Bells, dark and oppressive for Queen rat with some nifty lighting changes throughout the whole production. Sound was clear with no feedback, dialogue and music were easily heard. Costumes provide by Issy Bristow were colourful and fun, very much in keeping with the panto genre.

I genuinely wish I could mention everyone involved, both on stage and off, as a society show is more than the people you see on the stage. From the moment I walked into Slaidburn Village Hall the front of house team made me feel very welcome. I would like to thank Slaidburn Players and Aldwyth Pearson for inviting me to review their pantomime of Dick Whittington and His Cat and look forward to their next production.

 

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