Mother Goose

This pantomime was a good family show with something for everyone: the basket a focus for the children to watch, the free sweets, the likeable goose, local and topical jokes, audience singsong and competition, colourful costumes and scenery and a story that ends well. Once again Michelle Weston played and sang the heroine role and made a feisty job of Jill, while counterpart Claire Wilson played a very capable Jack. A new face John Coe was a suitably evil and cunning villain with voice and expressions to match. His evil was successfully combatted by the Good Fairy, Dale Henry.  The wonderful combination of laughter and nonsense from Stewart Borthwick as Silly Billy and Derek Easton as Mother Goose carried the show along. Their slapstick home-decorating scene with the wooden plank and wallpaper paste brought the house down. I loved the modern butch scene where they changed into ‘cool’ clothes and drank the potion which changed their natures to aggression.  Then the pair Nifty and Shifty, namely Ashley McGeorge and Lucy Andrew, nicely balanced their humour with the selfish side of their natures. Another duo Jeanna Connell and Tracy Rice gracefully enacted the roles of Virtue and Vanity. These principals were fully supported by lively dancers and a good moving chorus. The fluorescent flower scene gave the show its special bit of magic. All involved played their part not forgetting those backstage who ensured quick costume and scene changes were smoothly done. You can almost forget all the hard work that goes in they make it seem so easy. Congratulations on another successful panto.

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