Once Upon A Time – An Adventure in Pantoland

Snaith and Cowick Drama Group celebrated their 20th anniversary with an original show written for them by 19 year old group member Seamus McEnroe, with additional material by Liam Tupling.  In the production we are taken on a joyous journey through Pantoland as traditional stories interlap and intertwine so that goodies, baddies and everything in between were mixed into this clever production providing fun for all ages.

The show opened with Jess Wood as an enthusiastic fairy, running through the audience. Fairy Fable introduced us to Granny (Barbara Dawes) and Eliza (Yolanda Morrill-Valle) just as Granny is telling Eliza a bedtime story which of course starts with ‘Once Upon a Time’.  The cameo role played by Barbara was especially poignant as she is the only remaining founder member of the group who continues to be active and involved today.  Whilst Fairy Fable provided the goodness and light – the darkness and evil was the domain of Captain Hook played by Liam Tupling in his fist villainess role for the group in which he did a great job.

The premiss of the tale is that Eliza has been transported to Pantoland and as the characters from Alice in Wonderland gather Alice (Melissa Sykes), The Mad Hatter (Zoe Bywater), Cheshire Cat (Harvey Egerton), White Rabbit (Anni Bowmer) and March Hare (Alex Wood-Stones) they share a wonderfully colourful afternoon tea of very enticing cake.  However, their festivities are soon interrupted by a bout of wickedness from Captain Hook.

The show included a wonderful soundbite routine featuring Dorothy (Leah Standing), The Scarecrow (Steve Brewiss), Tin Man (James Mitchell) and Cowardly Lion (Lacey Brook).  These four actors worked well together throughout the show – all having great delivery and, as with all of the cast, creating great characters for our entertainment.

The audience participation started only 15 minutes into the pantomime with the assembled crowd being required to get on their feet and dance along with Dame Hyacinth Hook (Steve Boyce) and ensemble. Boyce once again looked fantastic in every outfit with perfect wigs and shoes – absolutely stunning.  With his huge presence on stage as a fabulous Dame it was great to see his continued involvement.  And the immersive nature of the show didn’t stop there…  Throughout the production there were ample opportunities for those watching to get involved including a cleverly written pirate themed song and dance number which utilised projection on a lowered screen.  Lynn Tupling as Chester Treasure and Caitlyn O’Sullivan as Walker Plank lead this number and along with their pirate band were very entertaining.

Hansel and Gretel (Zach Langton and Pheobe Roberts) introduced a super ‘sweet’ inspired exchange with some great visual props.  The Lost Children, Tom, Dee and Harry (Oliver Langton, Vikki Barron and Harry Langton) along with Tinkerbell (Gracie Emerson) were on their own adventure trying to find their friend Peter Pan (Seamus McEnroe).

The production included many great jokes and new material which made the whole experience good fun, but key to the story was that the three female leads, Alice, Dorothy and Eliza had to find the hero in themselves to overcome evil and ultimately for Eliza to get home to Granny.  These three young performers did a super job.  Sykes and Standing continue to grow from performance to performance and it was good to see Morrill-Valle playing her first main role with confidence.

The Ensemble which included named characters along with Olivia Morris, Jessica Darley, Sarah Clarke, Ellen Brannick and Aedan Brooke had lots of fantastic dance numbers, which had been well choreographed by Seamus McEnroe. ‘One Way or Another’ which featured the pirate ensemble was particularly energetic and eye catching.  Costumes, Sound and Light were all great and a special shout out to Steve Boyce for designing and constructing such a colourful set.

Sincere congratulations to the Production Team, Committee, Cast and Crew at Snaith and Cowick Drama Group for a very entertaining evening.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.