Mother Goose

This was a typical pantomime, for adults and children, that followed the story of Mother Goose and her silly son Billy. They were under the demanding influence of Sir Jasper Moneybags who was insisting on more rent from the villagers than they could afford. Into the story came Priscilla who laid golden eggs. This brilliant goose, standing about 7/8 foot high, handled outstandingly by Malcolm Stuart, won the hearts of everyone in the audience.

Taking on the ambitious duty of Director, Julie did well in providing continuous action, simple setting, spatial consistency and visual variety throughout, coordinating both principal and ensemble action nicely. The orchestration and sound from the band was well controlled and executed, displaying capable talent from the Musical Director, whilst the choreographer provided excellent movement that showcased the dance ability from both dance troupe and ensemble alike.

Entertaining principal performances were provided throughout with Mark Barnes (Billy Goose) and Andre Dore (Mother Goose) steering the show, keeping momentum and providing many enjoyable, colourful moments. I loved their cookery scene. As with all pantomimes there needs to be a Good Fairy looking really beautiful (Pam Stringer) and an Evil Demon (Peter Woodward). In this particular production these two were very important as they kept us abreast with where the story was leading us and gave the audience a reason to boo and cheer. Add to these, two more funny guys (Aimee Bullimore and Zoe Green) and a really good team of principals, some excellent dancers, a chorus of adults and some really smiley children and the success of the show is assured.

Costumes, use of makeup, set and props were consistent, vibrant and well sourced, adding to the overall visual enjoyment. Backstage work was generally handled well and provided minimal interruption to the performance whilst technically the use of lighting and sound worked well and was nicely controlled. From the audiences viewpoint this new venue made an enormous difference. Thank you for inviting us to such a polished production.

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