Hansel and Gretel

Ottery Community Theatre’s production of Hansel & Gretel at the Institute last week contained all the elements of traditional family panto. There was plenty to Boo & Hiss, lots of 'Oh no he didn’t - Oh yes he did", local jokes and political jibes, and always a  favourite with the youngsters in the audience "It’s behind you"! The action flowed, the songs, a mixture of old and new, fitted well with  what was happening on stage, and there was a story, so well done to writer and Director Jill Machin, and her Assistant Director Laura Machin. With a slight twist on the well-known fairy tale nasty Fritz rules the townsfolk of Ottery with a rod of iron, aided and abetted by his mean son Hansel, while his sweet daughter Gretel tags along reluctantly. Caught up in the middle is his poor housekeeper Dame Goodheart  and her two children, Peter who is totally in love with Gretel, and Hermione who is totally cynical about everything! Striding into all this  comes Prince Rupert from the "Kingdom of Happy Ever After" looking for a bride, confidently played by Tamsin Harvey, who soon has his sights set on the lovely Gretel! Carolyn Tuckett and Juliet Squire as Mersey, the Pink Fairy and Griselda, the White Fairy  gave a warm welcome at the start, getting the audience on their side as they set out to improve life for the people of Ottery, helped along the way by the children and the pixies, and  in spite of the incompetence of local "Bobby", PC Plod - a straightforward and down to earth performance by Joy Richardson. Laurie Palmer played Dame Goodheart just as he should - as a "bloke in a frock" - without going over the top, Harriet Squire made a  suitably sullen Hermione and Jacob Franks stole everyone’s hearts as the gauche lovelorn Peter. Florence Squire and Amy Coates were just right as Hansel and Gretel, and  Jack Coates “aged-up” valiantly to play the evil Fritz, determined at all cost to escape the clutches of Dame Goodheart!  Padding out the small cast of adults in this production Norma Palmer added to the action and the singing as Trudy, the stallholder. Act II saw Juliet Squire cunningly transformed into the blind Wicked Witch, complete with white stick, as she proceeded to capture Hansel and make him see the error of his ways with the revenge of the cabbage soup!  Against a striking forest back cloth and effective lighting the pixies and a delightful kitten danced and sang their way through a myriad of familiar tunes from "Memory" to "So Long Farewell" - a clever way of exiting the stage, and like all good fairy stories it  ended happily ever after, although perhaps not for Prince Rupert! Fritz and Hansel became model citizens, Peter got his girl and the townsfolk now had better things to eat than cabbages! There was an unusual take on the audience participation song which got everyone to their feet joining in with the singing and the actions, and throughout the show the 7 piece band, under the direction of Paul Bridgman played on, adding to the ambience of the occasion. This was a cast with a strong team of young people and it was lovely to see  a mix of age groups working together on stage and back stage to create that "Happy Ever After" feel that will always be panto! Oh yes it was!

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