Hercules

Hercules a pantomime, staged by Mawdesley Amateur Dramatic Society at Mawdesley Village Hall, Hurst Green, Mawdesley on Saturday, 2nd December, 2023.

‘Hercules’ the panto was penned by the ever so talented Emma Mean, one of Mawdesley’s very own! I must admit, I came to Mawdesley thinking… “Hercules the Panto”, how’s this going to work, strange concept… but be sure it worked, telling a hilarious tale about ‘Hades’ who plans to overthrow ‘Zeus’ and rule the cosmos… the only thing standing in his way was ‘HERCULES’!  An outcast on earth, with only his Mum and best friend to support him, the storyline follows the life of young ‘Herc’ as he searches for his destiny and his ‘faces off’ with the evil Hades as he attempts to save everyone he loves!  Will Hercules be successful and save the World, or will Hades and his sidekicks get their act together and foil Hercules plans?

Talking about… ‘Destiny’ and ‘Getting your Act Together’ … I attended Mawdesley Village Hall for the final performance of Hercules and I was privileged to witness a very successful ‘getting your act together’ and the hopeful ceiling of two peoples ‘Destiny’ … when ‘IRIS’ aka Toby Hewitt (Mawdesley’s very own Panto Dame) got down on one knee after the final bows and proposed to Emma Meen (Panto Writer) … it was obviously a very closely guarded secret and a shock to everyone in the audience, I think most of the cast and without doubt Emma who looked totally overwhelmed!  Well, what was Emma’s answer I hear you say… with a ‘huge smile’ on her face and a ‘big kiss’ for Toby she said ‘YES’  (What some people will do to get a part in Emma’s next panto ahahahahaha) … only kidding, congrats you two, all the best for the future!

The Production Team… Debbie Wells (Director) was chosen to take the reins with this pantomime with writer Emma Meen (Assistant Director) and Judi Blakemore (Musical Director).  It was obvious from the off, that these three knew exactly what they wanted from this production and how to achieve it!  Pantomime is a great platform to offer younger members of your society the opportunity to mix, perform, gain experience with it’s more senior and experienced members and this was never more to the fore than tonight… well done Mawdesley… a great mix of youth and experience … creating a cast that was strong, well-rehearsed and who from the start to the very end kept us thoroughly entertained!

The Cast… I’ve thought about and started this paragraph so many times now…WHY?... because, this is where I usually ‘stick my neck out’ and start identifying ‘MY’ favourites but, I do think the success of this production (which had no weak links) … wasn’t down to an individual, it was very much down to ‘cast togetherness’ … so to start suggesting someone was better than someone else, feels slightly wrong, although I do feel it would be remiss of me not to give a few ‘shout outs’ to some great performances and to some great characters created!   So, with that to the fore, my first ‘shout out’ goes to our pantomime ‘baddie’… ‘Hades’ the Greek God of the Dead, ruler of the underworld played extremely well by Phil Quinn. Phil made the role his own, confident, assured, he connected immediately with the audience, which is an essential, if this type of characters is to work. Loved the characterisation and loved even more the ‘off the cuff banter’ with the audience… well done Phil, be very proud!  ‘Hercules’ our hero, son of Zues, was played really well by Jolee Poole as was the role of ‘Megara’ the daughter of the King of the Thebes played with great aplomb by Laura Tingle.  Hercules and Megara are the ‘love interest’ in the panto and they worked really well together creating two totally believable characters.  Both appeared confident from the off and made these parts their own!  Jolee and Laura dueted the song ... ‘Falling Slowly’ … a song that has some tremendous lyrics which they sang amazingly well!  Laura then sang solo one of my all-time favourites … ‘Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman which was a show highlight for me… congrats Laura great rendition, congrats both of you great job, be very proud!  Toby Hewitt took on the role of the Dame … ‘Iris’ and made a real good job of it!  Loved the interactions with the audience … again for the role of a Dame! Good stage presence with some nice comic timing throughout!  We had more comedy interludes created by our Comedy Duo… ‘Strain and Struggle’ played by the ever so experienced Chris Hill and his young sidekick Finlay Quinn respectively… be proud you two, plenty of great one liners delivered to perfection!  We then had three real cuties… Rosie Furzeman, Joy Owen and Lottie Hill playing the roles of ‘Clio’, ‘Talia’ and ‘Calliope’ respectively… three of the six Muses from Greek mythology… great job girls, be very proud! The cast also included… Rory Poole played ‘Nik; Finlay Robertson and Lorraine Ryan played ‘Zeus’ and ‘Hera’ respectively; Thomas Robinson played Leo; Finlay Henty played ‘Water Titan’ and ’Jason’; Josh Donkin played ‘Earth Titan’; Josh Quinn played ‘Air Titan’; Maisie Hill played ‘Cassandra’; Ollie Taylor played ‘Theo’; Ella Roe played ‘Alexandra’ and finally Molly Waring played ‘Pheobe’. Can I just take a ‘mo’ to reiterate how humbling it was to see the diverse age groups represented on stage that evening, from primary school ages through to those past retirement and everything in between … fused together through the power of amateur theatre … long may it continue!

Staging/Set/Tech… Tony McAughey (Set Designer) and his Construction Stage Crew of Jeanette Robertson, Finlay Robertson, Julie Banks and Stuart Taylor… were responsible for a relatively basic set that was used throughout.  The Lighting Design was created by Paul Taylor with Evan Taylor being in charge of the Lighting and Mathew Hutcheon the Sound during the performances… great job guys, you really did make use of every inch of space… well done be proud!

Costumes were perfect for this production obtained from The Costume Shop.
Props were apt and used well … under the supervision of Karen Henty and Jo Donkin.

Chaperones/Matrons… I never close a review where young people have been involved without ‘praising the people’ who give up their time to ensure that the young people involved are safe whilst being on stage… ‘Chaperones / Matrons’ call them what you will… so its congrats to Sam Quinn (Children’s Supervisor) and to all the unnamed people who volunteered for these roles…  young people are the future of Amateur Theatre, without you guys … the future wouldn’t be as bright… Congrats!  

What I couldn’t believe, was this had been my first opportunity to see Mawdesley ADS in pantomime action…. simply because their pantomime run and my pantomime run usually clash… not sure what changed but so glad it did!  So, can I take this opportunity to say a ‘big thank you’ for inviting me and a ‘big hug’ to Hilda McAughey (Society Chair) for her warm welcome and for looking after me throughout the evening, appreciated Hilda. To each and all at Mawdesley ADS… have a great Christmas and until we meet again in 2024 

Stay safe and keep well..
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.