King Arthur the Pantomime

As usual we received a warm welcome from the Front of House team, and it was nice to be introduced to the Director before the show.

The Medieval period of the Pantomime was well established by the dramatic taped music before the curtain. The Lady of the Lake was the first to appear, followed by Morganna le Fey. It became apparent from their dialogue that these actors were the 'good' and 'bad' characters, but this was initially confusing because the 'good' character entered from Stage Left and the 'bad' character from Stage Right, which is the reverse of the usual conventions.

The opening chorus number 'Hey Look Me Over' was bright and colourful, with the chorus in vibrant pink costumes. Choreography was simple but performed with conviction. There were some lovely smiling faces amongst the members of this small chorus, and if every member had smiled throughout, the chorus numbers could have been even better.

The entry of the Dame, Dolly, plus other Principal characters, moved us swiftly into the story. The sword in the stone was brought on, and the various attempts to remove the sword by the different knights looked very authentic and was very funny. Merlin and Arthur worked well together in their first scene, with some very well-timed interjections. The 'old nag' gag was also very well timed.

Some of the entrances of characters throughout this show could have benefited from higher speed and energy; in Pantomime, characters really need to 'burst' onto the stage. For example, Mordred's first entrance, which was upstage left, was onto a stage full of people and therefore went largely unnoticed until he spoke, and this was the case with many of the entrances. Pace was also adversely affected at times by the speed of line delivery. Gags are always funnier when delivered at speed, and I felt that some laughs were lost due to slow delivery.

There were some lovely moments: Mordred's tantrums and use of the dummy when he didn't get his own way; the use of smoke and material to create the fire-breathing dragon in the wings; the synchronised thigh slapping; Dotty's belly dance. The kitchen slapstick scene was well performed with good timing, and I liked the way the clearing up was incorporated into a musical chorus number in 'A Woman's Touch'

There was a mixture of taped and live music, and this was well-timed and of good volume. Lighting was appropriate throughout with good lighting cues and no shadows. The 'underwater' lighting effect down stage left on the Lady of the Lake was particularly effective. Sound effects were well-timed, and I particularly liked the effect used when Mordred put the love potion in the drink. Scenery was well-painted.

Costumes were colourful and well fitting. We have come to expect outrageous Dame's dresses from this society, and we certainly weren't disappointed this year. The pink chorus outfits were lovely, as were the finale outfits in turquoise and silver, and the Knights' uniforms looked very authentic. The costumes for the dancers in the U-V scene were effective.

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