Dick Whittington & His Cat

The story of Dick Whittington and his cat is well known and this version written by WAODS Director Garry Bailey brings the story up to date with many modern-day and popular references.

This story tells the tale of our hero Dick Whittington (Lucy Chidlow) and trusty cat Tommy (Lucy Wainwright) as they arrive in London and meet the employees and customers of department store ALDF, owned by Alderman Fitzwarren (Jason Wainwright). The department store was vaguely reminiscent of  ‘Grace Brothers’ and provided the opportunity for plenty of pantomime favourite jokes and fun.

It was a shame that the hall was not at its full capacity for a Saturday evening but the enthusiasm of both cast and audience ensured that all had a great time. The production team of Garry Bailey (Director), CJ Allen (Musical Director), Wendy Brisbourne (Choreographer) and Darren Brazier (Stage Manager) had pulled together a talented cast of both adults and young people who were well rehearsed and ready to give of their best.

The pantomime started with the tussle of good versus bad and in traditional style King Rat known as Ratorio (Joeseph Mort) entered stage left (usually known as the entrance from hell or the sinister side) whilst the Fairy of the Bells (Ann Likeman) gracefully appeared from stage right (the entrance from Heaven).

It wasn’t long before Idle Jack (Nigel Davies) was warming the audience up on such a cold evening, Nigel has plenty of stage presence and his comic timing as always was faultless.

Sarah the Cook (Simon Whitehouse), Alice Fitzwarren (Jessie May Bracken), Captain Barnicle (Lee Haliwell-Williams), Mr Bilge (Ollie Holding) and El Cadier the Sultan of Morocco (Garry Bailey) completed the principal cast.

The staging of this show was impressive with painted set and clothes, quiet scene changes, great lighting, theatrical effects and clear sound.  I particularly enjoyed the underwater scene and the creatures designed and built by the Sir John Talbot’s School.

There was little doubt that the society’s loyal audience loved every minute of this production and rewarded the cast generously with plenty of applause. They particularly enjoyed the sing along to ‘Baby Shark’ along with actions. It was great to watch as the 5 & 9-year-old children assisted with the song on stage along with 32-year-old audience member Lance (all future stars of the stage!).

Keeping up with tradition the final lines of the pantomime were in rhyming couplets summing up the entire story as everyone celebrated with plenty of glitter, pyrotechnics and much applause.

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