Pinocchio

Hallam & Handsworth TC are a long-established company with many of the community theatre attributes of family inclusion from young to not so young providing a stepping block for the youngsters of today to be the principals of tomorrow. In choosing Pinocchio the pantomime this was a refreshing choice, not as often performed, but non the less containing all the usual pantomime features.

I must credit the production team directed by Matthew Walker and Jane Jefferson-Blythe as assistant director for bringing the excellent script to life in the fullest manner. I suspect, as is often the case in panto, that additions are and have been added along the way with excellent results .Matthew in particular has the odorous task of separating his own performance whilst directing the remaining principal cast which clearly had been done to the highest standard. Steve Trotter as Musical Director brought the best out of the many numbers not only during the solos and duets but also the full ensemble pieces , and along with his well-balanced accomplished orchestra achieved  excellent results. The choreography by Hayley Wilbourne and Beth Cooke was well thought out and I particularly enjoyed the well-balanced staging during the full ensemble pieces using the stage to its maximum and allowing space for all to move easily. What an absolute pleasure to see a society encouraging so many very young members 12 within the children’s ensemble along with 14 in the adult ensemble. I understand the youngest was three and half years old. Those youngsters didn’t disappoint giving excellent performances lighting up the stage with their larger-than-lifesmiles. Well done to you all. The production team had clearly worked hard in their choice of cloths depicting the many and varied scenes along with the memorable inside of a whale!!The stage props were well used, large enough to let the audience know what was happening but not too large in reducing performance space. The lighting by Tom Dyson was excellent giving so many atmospheric effects to the many scenes, and along with Paul Minott who kept the sound balances clear throughout. From experience not an easy task in the Montgomery Theatre.

As the title implies, Pinocchio, is based on the puppet boy coming to life then experiencing the good and bad of life’s experiences with good thankfully winning the day. The panto opened with 4 of the adult ensemble ladies singing and performing a well executed and choreographed  puppet dance , setting the scene for what was to follow. Louise Webster as Pinocchio gave an excellent performance, a challenging role going from a rigid puppet to a live free moving boy, with great singing and acting. Many beautiful scenes and great facial expressions. Jiminy Cricket by Ollie Walker excellently performed by someone so young, you certainly held your own throughout Ollie with clear diction, stage presence and a genuinely comfortable aura ,well done. The Blue Fairy by Rachel Hemstalk all the way from Liverpool with many cameo scenes and light moments, bringing the puppet to life, guiding Pinocchio away from evil and back to good. Stuart Ogden as the poor toy maker Gepetto, striving to make something out of wood and achieving his dream with Pinocchio. You gave a lovely contrast in performance showing peace and calmness whilst madness and evil surrounded you. I really enjoyed your scene with the Dame and Pinocchio when he started to talk well done.

Lampwick by Joseph Walker , the silly billy of the panto with so many memorable scenes , your sausage to name but one !! the interactions with audience, with the Dame and other cast members was brilliantly performed. This role I often think is one of the hardest, to act totally daft from an audience perspective whilst being totally normal, very clever. So many memorable scenes, the sausage cutting, the baking scene and of course the drinks name sketch, brilliant. The classic baddy which every panto needs, Stromboli by Andrew Stansall ,gosh I guess you were pleased to take your splendid costume off at the end of the evening.  Excellent performance complete with the comical Italian accent. You worked the audience well achieving all the boos and hisses and along with your kickstarts Volpe by Sam Widdowson and Gatto the cat by Sara Ross formed the well performed formidable team of baddies who in true panto style didn’t win the day. I really enjoyed your individual performances, Volpe trying to be the clever fox whilst Gatto the cat played cleverly with lots of misunderstanding, well done to you all. A cameo Act2 song of I’m forever Blowing Bubbles dressed in a dubious outfit played by David Jefferson as Prawn Mendes and sang well during the well-directed under the water scene, along with bubbles into the audience which the youngsters loved. 

Not forgetting of course that every panto needs a Dame…..

It would be fair to say that there are Dames and there are Dames and then there is Matthew Walker. 

Stage presence, clarity of speech, singing of the highest standard and comic timing to be proud of, a truly 100% performance with so many excellent scenes, great interaction with the audience and cast members alike. The scenes with Lampwick were hilarious, your facial expressions, innuendos delivered to the highest order and comic timing a joy. So many clever lines ‘if you don’t laugh I’ll stay on ‘ .. ‘ joinhands and contact the living’..’the last one was a Frenchman’ .. ‘It’s too late for a refund’ and so many more. Not to spoil for future audiences but the drinks card scene, the baking scene, the sausage scene, the boat scene , do I need to say more? . The ensemble work along with dancing and a great tap section carried out really well.

The costumes were colourful and well thought out along with the wild over the top Dame ones. 

Thank you to the whole society on and off stage FOH for a truly memorable performance and welcome to both Sylvia and myself.

If you haven’t already booked then don’t miss it , you will not be disappointed , there is more than enough for both adult and children

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