Mother Goose

I was welcomed at Front of House and met with Directors Malcolm Hollister and Mark Scanlon during the interval and again at the end of the performance.

The attractive set had been designed and built by the society and whilst simple, it was very effective. Mother Goose’s house at stage left was particularly well constructed around scaffolding with an ‘upper floor ’and there was a suite of animal ‘cages ’at stage right. Various animal puppets occupied the cages with lots of accompanying movement, All rather clever and well synchronised! A glitter curtain was at one of the wings and a further curtain at the back of the stage. Props were moved on and off fluently as needed. Costumes, sourced locally, were relevant to characters and extravagant for some roles. Sound was good with all the cast being heard clearly. There were a few sound effects most notable being the clicking sound of Simple Simon’s camera. Good use was made of lighting to enhance the stage.

This was a good family pantomime with plenty of comedy in the script and enhanced by good and capable acting. The script was not complicated and had all the ingredients of a successful panto. There were rather corny jokes and plenty of audience participation encouraged by the cast. Music was to backing tracks and there were a few musical numbers delivered well by a society which primarily focuses on acting rather than singing and dancing. Good use was made of the stage area with plenty of action.

All the characters were well cast and interpreted their roles really well! The panto opened with dialogue front of curtain between Fairy Thistledown, well played by Lynne Tabone and Demon Malcontent, played by Susana Concheso. Susana was suitably wicked and had some great expressions which encouraged the audience to boo and hiss! Jack, played by Zoe Bell and Jill, played by Shannon Shaw were so well paired, bouncy and energetic on stage. A lot of their time was spent with Simple Simon, very well played by Gray Searle who seemed the lynch pin of the story. Gray was a ball of energy on stage, in the house, upstairs and sliding down the scaffolding. He delivered his lines at express speed complete with good facial expressions and lots of comedy. The audience loved this!

Gareth Jordan-Burrows was a sometime flamboyant and extravagant Mother Goose, aka the Dame. Played in a traditional way, Gareth was everything a dame should be- loud, silly and over the top. His costume was typical of the role. The silly pair were Corporal Ringo, played by Adam Webster and Private Paul, played by Michael Challis. There was plenty of silliness and comedy in their roles with lots of fooling around and clumsiness on stage. Major General Georgie-Porgie, played by Jenni Ribbits was supposedly in charge of the Corporal and the Private but despite Jenni’s somewhat austere and commanding manner, she failed!

The role of Priscilla Goose appeared to be made for Sara Knight. She strutted and preened and moved at full speed around the stage. A great performance. Two small but important roles completed the cast. Anthea Halstead as Mrs Mulligatawny and Kevin Roychoudbury as King Goosey-Goosey Gander.

And how could I possibly not mention a very colourful Yoko the Bird, well handled by Gray!

Finally this was a traditional family pantomime expertly directed by Malcolm Hollister and Mark Scanlon both of whom I congratulate for bringing this pantomime to the Sudbury stage. Well done to all the cast and crew involved in any way.

The audience certainly enjoyed this, especially the group of scouts who were in the audience and I also enjoyed it immensely.

 

 

 

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