Mother Goose

The repartee, the slickness, the singing, the colour, the nonstop humour and up to date allusions combined to make this a memorable pantomime. In his last year with the company, Kieran West excelled as panto dame Mother Goose with his female mannerisms, exaggerated responses, his clever timing and command of the stage. His confidence and ability to ad lib to unexpected calls from the audience drew admiration and respect. His costumes were suitably outrageous but also fittingly apt. He worked well with all characters especially Eva Miller Watt as his son the cheery and silly Billy Gosling who always caught the young audience’s attention. The principal girl and boy, namely Amy McIntosh as Jill and Isla Cadman as Colin were well matched and sang beautifully together. Their unaccompanied duet was a well harmonised delight. The evil stakes were well raised by  Cayla Rushford as  the unashamedly grasping and greedy Squire but who was undermined by his ambitious but stupid henchmen, the likeable Bill Bumkin and Ben Bogtrotter, namely Isla McIntosh and Jessie McLeod. Charley Manger as elegant Fairy Friendship looked at first as if she would be no match for the scheming Demon Discontent a role nicely caught by Robyn Gilbertson, a wonderful voice in her own right, and who - the audience were happy to see - got her rightful comeuppance. Lucy Shanks as Priscilla the Goose portrayed a likeable and capable layer of golden eggs and managed the hampering costume with ease, while Liam Hain and Sylvie Wyzgowski as regal King Proper-Gander and Queen Goosegog got their ridiculous mispronunciations spot on. From the outset the chorus moved and sang as one, with clear diction and movement so well drilled their actions looked natural. Costumes were lovely especially in one of the dance sequences. The special effects and fluorescent scene contributed to the whole. But the show belonged to the youngsters with lots of talent on stage. Well done to all involved.

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