Puss in boots

Puss in Boots is a classic pantomime, but this version has some new ideas and twists to the classic story.

Keith Willis was the musical director and, overall, chose good songs, with good arrangements.  At times though it felt that some of the cast found it difficult to project their voices over the band.

Tom played by Alex Parkes was a traditional principal boy, she played this part well and commanded the stage when she was on stage. Harriet Bowman played Puss, she looked the part and did well when she came alive after putting the boots on.  A special mention to Jackie Noble for the make-up on both Puss and the Ogre, it was very good.

Harrison D’Ampney had a good stage presence as the Ogre, not an easy part to as he is only seen in Act two, but he made the most of what he was involved in. 

Betty Boot the dame played by Ian Greenwood was a fun character, he built a good rapport with the audience, and made sure they felt included.

King Champagne (Ralph Camp) was not the traditional king, he had some good one liners and he looked like he was enjoying the ‘behind you’ routine a lot!

Princess Chantilly (Kaitee Kristensen) was a sweet Princess who had a good relationship with Tom.  Julie Markey played the Spirit of Whiskers, this was a traditional fairy with a feline twist, she was kind, caring and made sure that Puss came out on top in the end!

Shortcoat (Louise Paton) and Bobtail (Karen Dean Arshadi) were a good knock-around duo that had a good sense of comic timing and worked well with Betty and Furball.

Furball, evilly played by Jim Markey, had the audience in the palm of his hand.  There was a little confusion if he was a cat or human, having said that it was a good evil performance.  Bentley House holds limited numbers but the boo’s were loud and he looked like he was enjoying every minute.  I particularly enjoyed his number with Shortcoat and Bobtail.

Bentley House has limited space to perform in and stage shows, pantomimes are particularly tricky as they move from place to place quickly.  Steve Onyon and his team created a brilliant set with revolving flats, it was very clever, and it was backed up with great projections by Andrew Coyston.  Everything was very clearly thought out by the team.  I would also like to mention the clever chase scene in act two, which would have normally been in the audience, instead they used the design of the building to great use.

The costumes were bright and colourful, and having Furball in a suit added to his character.

Thank you to the hospitality of Mary-Jane and her team.

 

Scott Welch

Reps district 9

NODA East

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