Narcoleptic Beauty

Great to be back at the Library Theatre Luton, to see the Griffins perform their adult panto, always an interesting experience, and this time after over 2 years absence.  I attended on the first night, and felt that the production started slowly, but gained pace once the cast got used to performing again, and the audience got the idea of being immersed in a show again. 

Technically good, although I would have liked to have seen quicker scene changes, I liked the sets, particularly the Palace back drop.  Lighting was generally good, with some stunning effects, i.e. the glitter ball lit with different colours, Gladis’ warning lights, and the transformation lighting.

Musically good, with some nice harmonies, I particularly liked the Interviewer’s (Clare Watson) voice, she stood out, whilst Magnificent and the other cast members did well with some imaginative numbers (James Driver’s forte).

Costumes were fine – the King and Queen’s were especially fine, and I liked the Dame’s costume, but would have loved to see them all in different costumes to signify the passing of 18 years!

Magnificent (Katy Elliott) was a fun character allowing her to be nicely evil, I also liked the sleep sequences, and her first number.

Gladis (Peri Lynn), the panto equivalent of Alexa, created a very good character, and I enjoyed her rap very much it was slick and well-delivered.

Prince Willie (Luke Murphy), lit up the stage with his very camp portrayal….great fun.

Beauty (Janine Wall) gave us the stereotypical princess, liked the lisp, it gave the character depth.

Camp Leader (Nico Bamford) once again threw himself into things with ‘gay’ abandon, with Old Mother (Josh Thompson) working hard to get reaction from an often unresponsive audience!  Good comedy parts.

The King (Simon Tuck) and Queen (Debbie Cavanagh) created an effective partnership.

There were some funny lines, but I missed a bit of the off the cuff banter that adult panto usually has, and the slightly dubious innuendo and occasional downright bawdiness.

Overall a fun evening, my thanks to Griffins for their hospitality, and let’s hope this is now the start of a return to performance. 

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