Old King Cole

Once again the village hall was transformed into a panto place where good conquers evil, laughter is guaranteed and enthusiasm is in abundance.

What this group achieve on a postage stamp is remarkable.  Village halls have to cater for the community as a multiple used space, transforming the space into a ‘theatre’ is a tribute to the groups combined enthusiasm.

This panto, written by Paul Reakes, first saw the light of day in 2012;   it is an excellent script, ideal for a community society to stage having plenty of opportunity for local and modern reference which audiences enjoy.

Old King Cole was not as merry an old soul as he should be! He desires a companion, in other words, a young wife! Suffice to say the usual panto shenanigans ensued.

The strength of this production punched in from the principals with some solid performances from Chris Poole as Old King Cole, Geoff Taylor as Dotty Dumplin and Alison Robson as Princess Pariah. These cast members are long term players with the society and their experience shone through. Impressive support was given by the Fiddlers 3 who performed as an ideally matched team with loads of camaraderie.

Costumes are always a high point of this societies show, with this year’s excelling! Colours were bright and coordinated with some imaginative designs as seen with the outrageous ‘Dotty creations’ and the royal baddies Prince Peski and Princess Pariah.

A generous amount of lighting was used to good effect, creating the imperative mood of the scene which was beautifully demonstrated in the forbidden forest scenes.

Dialogue despite being hesitant at times was mostly clear and audible, however, pace was compromised by several elongated, blacked-out scene changes which left the audience fidgeting, particularly the final blackout between the audience participation song and finale, resulting in a dampened climax to the show. Fortunately the audience appreciated the strength of cast performance and vivacity and deservedly rewarded appropriately, on what was generally a sound first night performance.

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