"Half-Baked"

To say that a performance bore no resemblance to its title would normally be considered rather a severe criticism but this was certainly true of this production which was very much the finished article. 

The show opened with a lovely set depicting the man (or woman in this case) in the moon as Catherine Marshall led her silver-costumed stars in a rousing chorus of “Can’t stop the feeling”.  After that we were off to Puddingland to meet King Crumble and many of his subjects.  Chief among these were Mother Muffin and her son, Spotted Dick, proprietors of the rather infamous Big Buns Bakery. Chris Meadley and Kevin Bowes made an excellent comic pairing in these roles and both quickly developed a great rapport with the audience. Every good pantomime has its villain and here it’s Doctor Drizzle, a name which provides an opportunity for the character and his assistant, Plum Duff (nicely played by Peter and Beverley Fletcher) to introduce themselves by “Singin’ in the Rain” before embarking on their devious plans.  Briefly, these involve a wish to capture the kingdom through a knowledge of the King’s weakness for a rather unhealthy diet, something always denied him by his fitness coach, Ryvita Ryebread.

This is a pantomime without a part for a glamorous leading lady in the Cinderella/Princess sort of style and instead Joanne Hawkins’s Ryvita filled that vacancy with great enthusiasm.  She grasped every opportunity for fun and laughter from her every move and appearance which, shall we say, differs from that of most fitness coaches.  Newcomer Mike Hewett gave us a King who aroused our sympathies at having to cope with his limited diet and rather domineering coach and his version of “The Great Pretender” in a disguise intended to defeat his tormenter was one of the highlights of the show.    

Smaller parts were well played: Jess Waddington made a fine Spongecake, a spider with which even the worst arachnophobe would be happy and Linsey Fone as Madame Meringue, Mother Muffin’s great rival in Puddingland catering circles, appeared suitably Gallic. She it is who tastes the traditional custard pie, although, as Vice Chair of the Company, she may yet have the last laugh when Mother Muffin wants a part next year.  June Hewett as Signora Sourdough led us through an amusing séance, Rosie King and Charlotte Towers made a good pairing as Ginger Nut and Brandy Snap, whilst Andy Mee appeared as Prince Piecrust (Prime Minister and heir to the throne). Charlotte Towers as Farmer Flapjack had charge of a rather clever cow (for which we must thank Maddison Lickers and Eva Lofthouse), able to supply a variety of food. The community song here had to be “If I knew you were coming, I’d have baked a cake”, a song from 1950 which might well have been new to many of the cast and audience, but we were well led by the Farmer and the Fitness Coach.

I was impressed by the way in which even the youngest members of the cast delivered their lines and the company were well supported by a small orchestra of three keyboards and percussion.  The script, specially written for this company, has been cooking for a little while but contained a number of topical comments, with references to an egg shortage and a defective Prime Minister amongst them. The director managed to extract every scrap of fun from it all and it was good to have the opportunity to chat with her and some of the officials as part of the usual warm Tadcaster welcome – and we even won a prize in the raffle.  I do hope somebody hadn’t cooked the books!     

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