Into the Woods

The Storyteller Luke Henley was our guide and led us ‘into the woods’ to meet many of our Fairy Tale friends where we see them in an unusual light. Things got off to a good start when the entire company sang their introductions, the principal pantomime character groups being Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Bean Stalk and the Baker and his wife.  The story revolves around the baker played very convincingly by Gus Quintero-Fryatt and Chloe Holt, as his wife who, owing to a curse by the wicked witch, are unable to have children. Chloe’s scene with the prince was an absolute delight!!  Cinderella‘s group consisted of Sarah Milner (Cinders), Sally McDonald (Stepmother), Annie Winrow and Zoe Saunders (Ugly Sisters) and Tony Hill (Father) all making the most of their parts and treating us to a great ‘shoe fitting’ scene. The two Princes, Matthew Collins and Shaun Williams gave good performances entertaining us hugely with their rendition of ‘Agony’ and Jack Winrow and Luke Martin were spectacularly frightening as the wolves. I loved their version of ‘Hello Little Girl’ and Felix Barrett as Jack of Beanstalk fame sang two very good numbers. Six more very convincing performances were given by Chelsea Love (Little Red Riding Hood). Suzanna Britten (The Witch), Bob Palmer (the cow), Clare Wilkinson (Jack’s Mother), Anthony Towers (The Mysterious Man) and Holly Diamond (Rapunzel), who acted and reacted well even when no dialogue was involved. My comments, however, should take nothing away from the performance of any other members of the cast who all did their part and worked so well as a team. The properties, costumes, sound (Brian Mercer) and make-up (Chris Horlock) were outstanding, the lighting design by Marr Pike was brilliant, the direction worked well in every scene and the orchestra was perfect for the production but without a doubt the STAR part of this exceptional show was the incredible set under the organisation of Mark Winrow provided by MWScenery..  It was pure magic.  

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