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Jill and Ted's Excellent (distinctly average) Adventure

Author: Kathryn Curry

Information

Date
8th February 2019
Society
Felton & Thirston Panto Society
Venue
Felton Village Hall
Type of Production
Pantomime
Director
Chris Jones

You always go to this small local society in anticipation of what to expect as they write their own script and it is always unique; at times bizarre, full of surprises and this year was no exception.  From curtain up to curtain down we were treated to an abundance of talent working their way through the twists and turns of the plot much to the amusement of the audience who thoroughly enjoyed the whole show and obviously left with the ‘Feel Good Factor’.

The plot was woven around someone messing with ‘Time’!  In this case someone was doing that with Felton and Thirston and this year they went back in ‘Time’ with ‘Father Time’ not being too happy about that.  With magic, and Jack, Jill and the Teddy Bear following the trail of destruction they tried to find out who had caused this catastrophe to enable them to bring back Felton and Thirston back normal. As usual there was fun and laughter all the way for the audience as well as much involvement especially in singing along with the cast. A very good choice of songs for us all to join in with.

This society does everything themselves and their costumes, set, props, lighting and sound all added to the spectacle we thoroughly enjoyed. They are to be commended for achieving this as everything was superb in this small village hall. To produce a show with this kind of entertainment is a real community effort and Felton and Thirston certainly appear to have an abundance of willing helpers to do that.

All these talented youngsters held the show together and I was very impressed with the amount of dialogue they had to learn which they seamlessly delivered with expression and natural acting skills. In particular I was extremely impressed with the characters of ‘Time’ Catherine Inglis-Jones, ‘Jack Shufflebotton’ Tom Felton, ‘Jill Shufflebottom’ Joely Hindmarsh, ‘Fred Bear’ Lexie Towers.  All the other children too many to mention played their roles competently and supported the main characters well.  Two rather elderly children ‘Old Gits’  Don Allan and Neal Skelton added to the hilarity with  what I would consider ‘Last of the Summer Wine Lads’ reading newspapers!!!  They were funny and what else would one expect of them.

As ever their lovely dame (dame Nora) who always makes us laugh and was as ever outrageous was played by Dave Hindmarsh. He really is one of the best dames in the region. ‘Mrs Fox’ Sue Fowler was excellent and she is always so well-rehearsed and her comic timing is a joy to watch. Bustling about on the stage in various genres she milked the audience every time she appeared and gave a very competent performance.

It’s always a good night of entertainment when you go to a production by this society and in their own words ‘We like to think of our panto as a little ray of sunshine in the dark days of Winter’, (oh yes we do). My comment ‘Oh yes they did’ and more besides. Well done everyone, you are to be commended in keeping community spirit alive and continuing to deliver to your audience fun and laughter. An excellent evening of entertainment.

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