Puss in Boots

Puss In Boots – Attleborough Players

It is good to see yet another take on this famous old tale and this one written by Kayleigh Poacher worked well in Spooner Row Village Hall.

As we venture into the village of Pendington we are greeted by a strong singing and moving ensemble of the residents, as we hear about their fear of the Ogre and his lust for power. An unlikely hero, Finn (Ted Lake), son of the late Miller, greets us in true Panto style and gets the children on his side instantly. His good singing voice and his interactions with the other performers totally enhanced his performance. The owner of the bakery is Dame Baba Dabidosie (Joshua Johnson) who enters wearing the most incredible pair of shoes, it must have given her vertigo wearing them, these eight inch heels combined with a very confident performance made her a wow with the kids and all the Dads were frightened in case she took a fancy to them.  

Into the story now comes the heroine, the feisty Princess Katerina (Lucy Norman) and she delighted us with her sweet singing voice. Queen Regina (Vicky Aukett) mother of Katerina was on the look out for a suitable match for her daughter and whilst she did that she delighted us with singing that is an asset to any company.

 If you are going to inherit a cat make sure it is a nice one and Meow Puss (Isobel Mason) was exactly that.

As is usual at this point we have to meet the baddie, and what a baddie he was as he laughed at us booing him and his booming voice leaving the audience chilled. This was a good strong performance from Martin Talbot as the Ogre and he was ably assisted by Henchie (Laura Chapman) his faithful but soft hearted Henchman. When you have bad, you must have good and we had it in triplicate as the three fairies Fairy Gruff (Tony Dosdale), Fairy Duff  (Becky Collard) and Fairy Nuff (Megan Medley) told us how they could not destroy the Ogre, it would take a hero. These were three totally different characters we had the one from the “valleys”, one laid back and cool and the excitable one, all of this made them a pleasure to watch.

When you want to find a Prince or Marquis what better way than to run a Hero Factor competition and obvious choices for Judges are the Royal Cook (Beata Thomas) and the Royal Jester (Jen Fishlock) both giving solid performances and doubling as ensemble when required.

Take a Puss, add some magic boots and we meet the title character Puss In Boots (Kayleigh Poacher). This was a very polished performance, both vocally and physically and this ladies talent was clear for all to see. However, in the smiley face department it would be hard to beat the three maids (not the Mikado ones) Maid Gloria (Tracey Fairweather), Maid Deloria (Jess Sculfor) and Maid Labrodoria (Sharon Coppin) as they beamed all the way through. Just Lance (Reece Pope) joined the company in a run round and had some of the audience in stitches.

The Players are very fortunate to have a very strong ensemble and some of the harmony singing was a joy to listen to. The scenery also hit a chord for me it was so well painted and helped contribute to a good evening’s entertainment.

The Saturday matinee is to be signed by British Sign Language Interpreter Sarah Talbot and this will help to make the panto totally inclusive.

Well Done the Players.

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