Rapunzel

To me, the fairy story Rapunzel immediately brings to mind long, long hair that is used to reach down to the ground from an impenetrable tower. My first thought therefore, when asked by a fellow Rep. to review this pantomime, was how are Little Eaton Players, on a small village hall stage, going to achieve this aspect of the story! Well, no worries because they did this in a most innovative and creative manner. Rapunzel lowered her hair out of a ‘window’ at the back of the set and lo and behold it appeared at the side of the stage through a blacked out ‘stone arch’ and through this climbed her ‘grandma’ and later the Prince who then appeared on the set through the ‘window’ - brilliantly effective! The scenery, depicting the various locations, was mainly delivered by ‘cloths’ which were superbly designed and painted in-house by Ian Humphries with help from Steve Baines, Rachel Humphries and the cast. I cannot praise the sets etc. enough - they really were outstanding. 

Kat Adey was very much the dashing, thigh-slapping Prince Frederick. He was sent away from the palace by the King, who had been given powers by Fairy Flora that made him more assertive thus enabling him to send his son out into the world to change his irresponsible and fun-seeking ways and ‘man-up’ which Kat eventually achieved admirably. Rapunzel was delightfully played by Neve Smith. She captured the innocence, the naivety and the charm of the character superbly and was totally in charge of that very large and long wig! Every pantomime needs a good Dame and here we not only had a good one but a truly splendid one. Richard Kirkland as Dame Trixie, hairdresser and owner of ‘Trixie’s Blow and Go’, outstandingly embodied all the quirky, extravagant, brash, funny and bawdy characteristics that one has come to associate with the role - a great performance (and it turned out that she was the mother of long lost Rapunzel). Catherine Baker excelled as Dame Trixie’s son Frankie. She was full of enthusiasm and created a superb rapport with the audience. Of course we have to have a ‘goodie’ and a ‘baddie’. The ‘goodie’, Fairy Flora, was beautifully, engagingly and deliciously portrayed by Rachel Holmes whilst Jo Russell as Gothel, the captor of Rapunzel, gave a supremely menacing and scary performance as the ‘baddie’. Her interactions with the audience were first-rate none more so than when a youngster in the audience shouted “we don’t want you back” she immediately retorted with “I’ll be back and... I’ll be back for you!” Gothel was aided by two dimwits who just couldn’t get anything right - Lea Holmes as Curly and Phillip Hadley as Bob. They were absolutely hilarious from their delivery of the script, their slapstick comedic antics and the inevitable falling and fooling about which were all terrifically timed, they were just a perfect comedy pairing - I loved them! Excellent support came from Paul Makinson (King), Sue Cope (Queen), Laura Reeve and Rachel Humphries (Gracie and Macie) Lily Osvath (Herald) and stepping in at the last moment Nick Mothershaw (Captain of the Guard). The lovely specialist choreography was superbly executed by twelve extremely talented and beautifully costumed dancers. The full production numbers were all of a high standard, the costumes were excellent, the lighting plot enhanced the ambiance of the scenes and overall this was a wonderful, funny and most enjoyable production - oh yes it was!! Congratulations to everyone involved. 

Joyce Handbury

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