Once Upon a Time in Pantoland

It's panto time again at Whitkirk Arts Guild - and this year, they decided to have a break from the traditional pantomime offering to bring a different and contemporary slant to the seasonal fun!

The story brought us more modern characters and storylines to match, but at the same time, all our favourites were there and, believe me, much appreciated by adults and children alike in the audience!

The Director, Lorna Marshall, making her directorial debut, had assembled a strong cast to put over the diverse and complicated story line. There had obviously been lots of rehearsal for this production - good staging, excellent diction and attention to detail. Louise Norbury-Robinson, as Musical Director, had chosen lots of different musical styles, sung very well by the entire cast. Choreographers Charlotte Jackson and Claire Williamson made perfect use of the relatively small stage with interesting dance moves and steps.

The comedy in this panto was brilliantly put over by a strong cast headed by Louise Norbury-Robinson as Tiffany Tickle, owner of a comedy stall in the market place - dressed as an elderly lady, with an old fashioned bun wig, she reminded me of a less glamorous Mrs Merton, aka Caroline Aherne, in her interpretation - excellent comic timing and bundles of energetic moves - she had the whole audience in stitches - Beth Henderson-Clark played Tilly Tickle, her daughter, an independent girl, in love with King Charming's son, Prince Harry - Beth has the most amazing voice and made the most of her ballads.Claire Williamson played the traditional 'naughty boy' character, Tiffany's son, Tommy, with such energy and fun; the audiences loved her antics, especially in the 'breaking wind' scene, which had the Brownies behind me screaming with laughter (me as well!) I have to give a big shout out to Laura Harvey, the Spirit of Pantomime, who opened the show and introduced us to the characters - she had the audience in the palm of her hand from the start. Rebecca Grayston played Prince Harry with suitable charm and pleasing vocals and rather like the 'other' Prince Harry, always at odds with his Father!  The villain of the piece for this pantomime was Sophie Rumbold as Mouldywart, who did not believe in laughter or fun and was totally evil to everybody - dressed in black leather and green accessories, she dominated the stage with her vile persona - we just loved booing her!  And her 'Confident' number opened Act 2 was brilliant!  Like all good villains, she became almost lovable at the end - wonder how long that will last!!  Nick Jackson gave his usual spot-on performance as King Charming, with Anna Deane as PC Potter, the comic policeman - very well done. We had two animal characters - Baxter, the dog, played so well by Helen Thomson - PC Potter's assistant - Snitch, the cat, Mouldywart's feline companion, played with feline grace by Ann Marie Mallinson. Michael Eliot Hall played PA Davy very amusingly, especially his scene with Fairy Grandmother!  The remainder of the ensemble and dancers all had individual characters, all so well played - I have listed them here....Charlotte Jackson (Fairy Grandmother and Snow White), Sarah Louise Martin (Jack), Frankie Lakin (Peter Pan), Kate Bentley (Postie), Joshua Knight (Ghost), Keeley Row (Sound Manager, with excellent sound effects!), Mia Rayson Regan (Rapunzel), Nichola Taberner (Fairy Cake), Andy Brown (Widow Twankey), Charlotte Stenhouse (Fairy Light) and Charlotte Smith (Gretel).

The creative team, always so important, headed up by Lynne Bigland as Stage Manager, assisted by Tim Bigland, Keith Speight and Sean Robinson. (I understand that due to the indisposition of Lynne, Emma Thomson had taken over as Stage Manager at short notice - well done!)  Dan Dainter, excellent lighting and Chris Beardwell for faultless sound. Costumes were supervised by Claire Jackson - there were some lovely touches, Front-of-House was headed by Anne Bigland and her tireless volunteer team.

In spite of awful weather conditions outside, there was a warm and friendly atmosphere in the Hall - I actually ached with laughter and was hoarse at the end with shouting and booing - I may be old in body, but my mind is about 16 years old and I adore the pantomime - this production was right up my street and I have sincere admiration for everybody involved - a wonderful production for which you should all be proud - I can't wait for next year - oh yes I can!!

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