Hansel and Gretel

The notice on the door of the village hall announced that the performance was sold out and as I entered, sortly before curtain up, the venue was buzzing. The directors kindly found time to say hello and I learned that although they had both been involved with pantomime for many years, neither had ever written a script. They came up with the idea during lockdown and now their production was playing to packed houses.  They were modest enough to admit that the village hall had a limited capacity but even so, I thought this was a terrific achievement.

The story of Hansel and Gretel may once have been a dark tale of abandoned children falling prey to a cannibal witch, but that was then.  Now it lends itself beautifully to the pantomime treatment. The young, and not so young, were here to boo the baddies and cheer the goodies and there were plenty of opportunities to do just that.

Kyle Banks was the behind the scenes narrator and he certainly did a good job in whipping up the enthusiasm in this lunchtime audience. 

An upbeat opening with Nigella as played by Kate Featherstone, an actress with a strong singing voice, assisted by the chorus in a rousing rendition of Candy Man.  This got everything off to a good start and the pace never really dropped. The title characters were very well played by Tina Battleday and Chloe Mosby and a good expressive performance by Becky Monk as Delia, sister to Nigella, fellow witch and Hansel and Gretel’s wicked stepmother.

Every panto needs a Dame and once again Matthew Fyleman rose to the challenge and did an excellent job as Mrs Baker.  Olive Higham was well cast as her son Billy and really connected with the audience.

Toby Cowell was Lord Butterscotch and well done to him for staying in character throughout his ordeal. Dom Rodwell and Reuben Cowell made a great comedy duo as Gerry and Ginny the Gingerbread Men and I loved the take on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, with Stuart Savill as Qwizzy Wizard.

Steve Dunn as PC Harry Bow ably led the search for the children assisted by his dog Cupcake. Lyla Bird really brought this character to life communicating only by facial expressions, canine mannerisms and some timely barks.  Well done.

Suran Jayathilaka was great as Biscuit Beast and his costume was terrific. The cameo appearance of puppet woodland creatures added to the fun. There was also a good supporting cast adding depth to the well chosen musical numbers, with some nice harmonies.  I particularly enjoyed When I Grow Up.

Choreography had been kept fairly simple and on the whole was well carried out.  There were a few stray limbs, but most people seemed to know what they were supposed to be doing. The pre-recorded music worked well.  There were a few lighting blips, but these were quickly righted. Scenery was well designed and constructed, and costumes were excellent.

Congratulations to Matt and Andy and to everyone involved in this lovely pantomime.  Thank you to the society for inviting me.  We had a very enjoyable afternoon.

                       

“ NODA owns the Intellectual Property Rights to the content of all show reports written by NODA Councillors, Reps and Assistant Reps”.  

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.