Pirates of the Carob Bean

There is no doubt in my mind that the general standard of pantomime in the region seems to have risen this year, so I was in good spirits and with high hopes of another seasonal triumph. Whatever the outcome, it is never a hardship to take my seat at North Heath Hall and on this occasion it was an unusual mixture of Cinderella and Pirates (Yarr !).

Almost from the very first I knew I was onto a winner as their pantomime elite bolstered (it is true) by a few new faces started to make their entrances. My on-going issue with amateur pantomime is (and has always been) the quality of the scripts. They just never seem to be funny, often containing virtually no scripted gags with all the humour coming visually or from slapstick and ad-lib frequently conceived and delivered on the hoof. To be honest, it is quite often just not enough. I can report that this was a notable exception. Another good script by Dennis Manning and Darren Worsfold was indeed filled with pantomime gags.

This is the annual pantomime in the village hall that has been performed to full houses for many years and I guess that the cast either knew or were related to most of the audience, which gave a real pantomime atmosphere. In my opinion pantomime is at its best in a village hall with many of the local people involved and local residents in the audience. They come prepared to be entertained and Manor certainly did that for them. However it is also very important that the show is well staged, the dialogue learnt and the cast acting their characters with conviction and again Manor came up trumps. 

On the whole the singing was good and the music well chosen with plenty of variety. Dennis gave an exciting demanding performance as the Pirate Captain Redbeard, Darren was paired up with Julian Tiley as two of the pirate crew performing some of the best scenes in the show well supported by the other pirates.Their cake baking scene was outstanding and a wonderful ‘Mop Routine’ with the other pirates had all the audience in fits of laughter. Andrew Page made a good Widow Twanky, Andrew Bates made a delightful Wolf, Charlie McCullock was great as The Queen, Sarah Ward sang really well, Craig Bunce made a very amusing Prince Charming/Guest and the rest of the cast, too many to mention by name, added to this jolly evening of fun. However one does have to be careful with Pantomime that the scenes never become crude bearing in mind that it is mainly for children.                         
 

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