Rapunzel

Rapunzel a pantomime staged by All Souls Dramatic Club at The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport on Thursday, 11th January, 2023.

All Souls were covering another fairytale by the Brother’s Grimm… the story of Rapunzel which is well-known and well loved by children of all ages.  The story centres around a beautiful girl with long golden hair who has been locked up in a tower by an evil witch. The fairytale tells how Rapunzel defeats the witch and lives happy ever after with her prince! This adaptation was penned by the ever so experienced Cliff Gillies, who not only wrote the ‘pantomime’, but directed it as well as playing one of our duo of Dames. Cliff, in his programme notes, tells us about ‘IMAGINATION… that intangible canvas where dreams are painted and possibilities unfurl’… and you’ll need all that ‘imagination’ when I tell you that it’s Robin Hood who rescues Rapunzel and provides that ‘true loves kiss’ … plus, we also bump into Auriora, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Jasmine… oh yes, and let’s not forget the appearance of Maleficent, Captain Hook and a Wicked Witch trying to imprison the good guys… “confused” …  it’s all about imagination!

Production Team… Cliff Gillies, as previously mentioned, had penned and directed this production, ably assisted by the ever so experienced Katie Palfrey (Choreographer) and Chris Rimmer (Musical Director/Band Leader). All Souls had once again gathered together some amazingly talented actors, dancers and vocalists all of whom were on top of their game and as soon as those lights came up, were oh so ready to give us their all!  There were no weak links… we had some wonderful choreographed movement, dance and music that provided support and accompaniment to a host of great singers. What was obvious from the start, was that every aspect of this production had been covered to the finest of detail! Be proud ‘All Souls’ another great production!    

The Cast… where do you start when there’s so much talent on show… it’s difficult, in fact it would be wrong to start suggesting that someone was better than someone else without perhaps doing injustice to others!  I find myself, once again, writing a review about an ‘All Souls Panto’ where the success was very much down to ‘the whole’ opposed to an ‘individual performer’ … everyone had a role to play and played it really well!  But, having said all that, I do feel, yet again, that it would be remiss of me not to give a few ‘shout outs’ … Shout Outs’…  what was obvious from the start was that this panto was littered with ‘couples’… like our ‘love interest’ ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘Robin Hood’, our two leads played by Heather Gomersall and James Shaw.  Both made these parts their own! There was good chemistry between them and I loved the semi comedic flavour to James’s take on Robin Hood… well done you two!  Couple number two… a couple of ‘Royals’ our ‘King’ and ‘Queen’, played by Alan Casserley and Karen Parkinson.  Again, two good characters, created who worked ever so well together, well done you two!  Our third couple or should I call them our ‘Duo of Dames’ … ‘Dame Fanny Gallups’ and ‘Dame Bella Gallups’, were played with great aplomb by our writer/director Cliff Gillies and our first time Dame Ian Lawson. Although this was Ian’s first time in a dress (you would never have guessed by ~the way) he and Cliff just clicked, they came together as one and worked the audience ever so well.  Some great one liners, some great comedic moments, loved the duet ‘I Know Him So Well’… but I’m still not sure if I prefer ‘the kiss’ with or without the beard Ian – just saying!  We next had a ‘couple of witches’… a Good Witch – ‘Fairy Godmother’ played by Jacqui Lewis and a Bad Witch – ‘Mother Gothel’ played by Hayley Jones… OMG … two amazingly powerful characters created, both blessed with powerful singing voices which they used to battle it out for supremacy!  Jacqui and Hayley have great stage presence, confident, assured … ‘extra shout out’ to Hayley for just about keeping a straight face when she found herself in between our two ‘Desperate Dames’… be ever so proud you two!  Having now rattled off the couples, who could forget our ‘fab five’… five princesses… Auriora, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella and Jasmine, played by Hannah Grunshaw, Zara Newton, Lauren Brown, Kelly Anderson and Kai-Enna Mook respectively … five more talented actors, five more with amazing voices all of whom created wonderful individual characters whilst working and singing together ever so well!  ‘Show highlight’ for me was when this ‘fab five’ were joined by Rapunzel to sing a rendition of the song ‘Six’ … which was totally amazing!  Finally, making up this amazing set of principals we had … Crisi Swash who took on the role of ‘Will Scarlett’ and Sophie Parkes who ‘knocked the role’ of ‘Waterfield’ out the park … be really proud!   Let’s not forget the ‘ensemble’ who supported the principals ever so well… they included Sophie King, Clare Haworth, Abbie Sumner, Sian Fletcher, Caitlin Woodward, Paula Sumner, Emma Wood, Louise Webster, Sue Hardiker, Chloe Judd, Sophie Horne, Jennifer Johnson, Ana Woodward, Tracey Holmes-Smith, Jenny Roby, Beth Fenny, Melissa Bennett, Stephanie Brittain, Alishia Pantellerisco, Sue Kershaw, and Vicky Snape. We also had the privilege to see six wonderful young dancers recruited from the ‘So Talented Academy of Arts’ based in Southport… Olivia Halsall, Lucy Jessica Manchester, Lily Grace Faulkner, Bryony LSE Jones, Cassidy Ella Ackers and Sienna Mae Shawcroft.  Be very proud ‘ALL SOULS’ …  this was a GREAT PRODUCTION!

Staging/Sets/Tech Team… Once again Andrea Shacksmyth-Claire (Stage Manager) was overseeing all things stage wise!  We had a basic set, built and painted to look like ‘Rapunzel’s Tower’ with steps leading up on both sides to a balcony which was used effectively throughout and provided the perfect space required for the actors to perform at their best!  The set was complimented by ‘on stage screens’ situated to both sides of the set which were used to project images accompanied by some superb lighting, including the use of ‘lasers’, which enhanced the production ever so much! ‘The Band’, who were superb throughout, were situated on stage, elevated to the rear of the set.  Unfortunately, we did have a couple of minor ‘opening night’ hiccups, the main one being a very large amount of haze which came through a very small door opening which obscured the first entrances of all the princesses, it drifted away into the audience, thankfully not affecting the production that much!  Set/Lighting & Sound Design by: Sam Hemingway, Matt Hughes, Sam Robinson, Gemma Briscoe. Technical Team:  Sam Robinson, Scott Mackin, Chris Webb, Mark Dean, Jordan Jones, Ollie Carroll, Lewis Hawksey, James Donnelly, Chloe Davies and Si Farell.

The Band…. led by Chris Rimmer (Musical Director) & Keyboards, Adam Dutch (Musical Director) & Bass, along with Dutch Family… Sarah – Reed; Mark – Guitar and Paul – Drums plus Dan Rankin Keyboards/Guitar.  Super sound and did a great job accompanying / supporting the vocalists throughout!     

Wardrobe… costumes were a ‘perfect fit’ (pardon the pun) for this production… congratulations to the ever so talented and experienced Wardrobe Team for their hard work and dedication in producing and pulling together such an effective wardrobe… congrats to Chris Watkinson, Mary Hall, Hilda Blomley, Pauline Barker, Barbara Mitchell, Sue Stephens and Mandy Eglinton on a job well done!   Props… were first class and used extremely well… under the watchful eye of John Hardiker.

This was, in MY opinion, another great All Souls Pantomime loved by everyone present, I would suggest… BUT, this is ME speaking from the heart and please don’t take it as criticism because that’s as far away from the truth as possible… but I did miss a bit of ‘slapstick’ and I dearly missed the legendary All Souls ‘Comedy Duo’ or ‘Duos’!  I know the Dames could be classed as a comedy duo, but I did miss those messy/mischievous duo’s that always ‘stand out’ in your panto’s! I am a traditionalist when it comes to panto, it’s my favourite genre of theatre and although I do love the musical side of panto, for me, comedy is still its ‘main ingredient’!  So, this is ME, twenty-nine years a panto dame, shouting out about something I dearly missed!  PS: hope I haven’t overstepped or offended!

Thank you again for inviting Susan and I to your production which we thoroughly enjoyed, as I’m sure everyone else in that ‘full’ auditorium did that evening! Thank you so much for allowing me to meet and speak with your cast after the show … luv you guys, have a great year and let’s hopefully bump into one another next year… same time, same place!

‘Stay Safe, Keep well’
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe,
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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