Red Riding Hood

An innovative theme based on a typical ecological protest about big business, land grabs, tree felling and fracking, was the main thread of this pantomime.

Colleen Pratt and Donna Shaw, as Fame and Fortune, the Forest Faeries, narrated the way through the evening.  Our heroine, Emma Tocker-Booth as Red Riding Hood gave a polished display, very disciplined in performance despite the mayhem that surrounded her.  Good support came from Catherine Treanor as Ed Vironment, a perfect foil for Emma, both vocally sound. A most convincing Wolfy McWolf-Face, the baddie played by Rob Mason was the highlight, confident and dominant throughout, with collaboration from Davina Caborn and Becky Smith as Evilia and Devillia Frackenstein.  A likeable energetic trio of policemen, played by Heather Slonimski, Chloe Hubbard and Rosie Jones provided comedy highlights, along with Matt Stables as Granny Hood and Mark Wilde as Mother Hood.

An enthusiastic supporting cast and many young dancers provided musical highlights to complete the evening`s entertainment.

It is good to see a panto that includes so many young performers amongst the adults, and they more than held their own in this show.

A well designed set and good costumes, and it was good to see that the youth involvement extended to the band, with the youngest timpanist I`ve ever seen.

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