Pantomania

This was the first time I had seen Portishead Players present two one act plays and the name of the evening ‘Pantomania’ rightly encompassed the two presentations.

Act 1

The first play was entitled ‘Cinderella’, but from the moment the curtains opened we realised it was not  ‘Cinderella’ as we have seen before. Having recently watched ‘Peter Pan goes wrong’ on TV this was in essence a similar presentation. The play began  with slow pick up of  cue lines and entrance, but very soon the experienced performers got into their stride and the pace picked up and we were treated to an extremely funny 40 minutes of farce. The scenery was very good… using periactoids was excellent as so many scenes can be portrayed minimally.  With good costumes, mistimed entrances, a very funny prompt/producer, overacting and upstaging most things that could go wrong did, quite intentionally! Everything was gently humorous until the entrance of the Fairy Godmother… from then on the audience became hysterical with laughter she was sooooo funny. The Fairy Godmother character usually makes everything right for Cinders… but this one was ‘drunk’ and the ending of the play was very different from what is usually expected and very funny.  Very good costumes, makeup, props and performances and an outstanding Fairy Godmother ensured audience and my approval for Act 1, well done. This play presented the essence of pantomime in an amusing and entertaining way.

Act 2

This was the first time I have seen PYP’s in action except in a ‘Songs from the Musicals’ and was looking forward to seeing them in full performance.

The Play ‘Happily Ever After…?’ was written and directed by Verity Huntley… what talented people Portishead Players have in their club.

This play told the story of four fairy tales seen from the perspective of the ‘Baddie’ in each tale. It took the form of a courtroom hearing where a judge eventually gave a verdict on the characters.

The Three Little Pigs… seen from the viewpoint  of the wolf, with  help from the ‘locals’ the three pigs built their houses of straw, wood and brick, with the wolf narrating why the pigs ended up dead… amusingly and well performed by all.

Peter Pan … how Captain Hook lost his hand and came to hate Peter Pan and the Darling family.  With an excellent Captain Hook telling his story and with other characters helping, we met the crocodile and learned why he lost his arm and ended up with a ‘hook’.

Billy Goats Gruff- told from the viewpoint of the Troll. The three Billy Goats were played by some of the older young people and very good they all were, and the story was told by the three goats and the troll. The boy playing the first goat displayed a confidence and stage presence beyond his years, very well done. Suddenly onto the stage came a multitude of trolls all mimicking Irish dancing… with excellent skill and humour the dance was the highlight of the evening and the audience was enraptured!

In the final scene the fairy tale was Snow White told from the perspective of the Wicked Queen. The young actor playing the queen was very confident and you could hear every word as she told her story, sadly with the arrival of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs her tale was over all too soon.

This was an excellent 40 minutes rounded off by the singing of a difficult song (sorry I don’t remember the name). This was performed well by the whole of the PYP’s company.  The fact that it was a tale written by Verity and performed so well by the Portishead Young Players  is to be greatly admired, very well done to everyone.

The entertainment value of this evening was very high. Congratulations’ and thank you once again for your welcome and hospitality. 

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