Ever After

The pantomime “Ever After” follows the invented fortunes of fairy-tale characters after they marry and ‘live happily ever after’.  This was a nicely creative idea with twists of magic, spells and two evil characters who mess up the happy conclusions of the classic tales of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming. It was a real village production, with most of the packed audience knowing people on stage, giving the evening a wonderfully vibrant atmosphere throughout. The inclusion of the children as choruses of bees and crocodiles, and the seven feisty dwarfs all worked very well!  There were some unusual parts in the script that might have warranted a second look, with the position of the audience song coming early in the second Act rather than near the end, and some entrances and exits need care.  The set was ingenious and made good use of the limited available space, although some of the scene changes were a little extended.  The noisy wooden   floor gave a bit of a problem when walking across it in boots.  However, the energy of the cast and their lovely characterisations more than made up for these first night difficulties.  There seemed to be increassed involvement by the local school in the cast and front of house, to very good effect.  

The lighting was very good, covering all the stage area despite the limited number of lights.  The use of UV light worked very well, too, in picking out the lighter tones in the costumes. The sound was well controlled and well cued, although occasionally possibly the music was a little too loud. The sound effects were very effective and well timed. The singing was good, the duet by Snow and Bee was lovely, and ‘Raining men’ was very well done!  The costumes were very good, bright and cheerful, and with Maleficent in full black attire - complete with horns.  I very much liked the energy and pzazz of the Dame with her over-the-top entrances and her special transporter - reminiscent of Julia Donaldson book “Room on the Broom.”   The touches that converted children into bees, birds and crocodiles were very clever.  There was a lovely ridiculous donkey and a Viking ship that grew in width to accommodate the crew which gave a good surreal touch to the show, while the Parcel Farce delivery man was a wonderful play on words. 

Altogether this was a production that made the most of the very limited space on- and back-stage by inventive approaches to the performance.  The characters were very well played and there was a wonderful vibrancy to the show. There were one or two areas that probably got better during the run, but over all this was a fun production that was fully appreciated by the audience. Well done!

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