Robin Hood

DTS never fail to kick off the Christmas season with their annual pantomime presentation and “Robin Hood” was no exception.  In fact, it is difficult to know where to start with the praise that is richly due for this fun example of amateur theatre. Natalie had made the most of some fantastic touches which elevated the show, and her casting ensured a strong overall ensemble. Firstly let me start with the script, written by Judith Shone, who had taken all the elements of this well-known legend and developed it into a fresh and fun tale, at the same time weaving in all the usual pantomime set pieces and choosing and adapting songs and music which perfectly suited the flow of the production.  As mentioned before the selections were cleverly chosen to work with the script, and it was a case of spot the musical from which they were lifted and adapted. All the musical numbers were well sung by either soloists or the ensemble chorus, supported, as ever, by John Woodman, Mike Saunders and Paul Whiteside. And let’s not forget the choreography, which was performed by the society chorus controlled and excellently executed, the dance numbers further enhanced the overall enjoyment of this amusing show.

A charming Robin {Elysia Dearlove} coupled a delightful Marion {Simone Munroe}, and their relationship blossomed beautifully through the show. Their duet, ‘I’m Going where the Sun is Shining’ was sung with great feeling and their general performance was sound. On the “dark side” there was a suitably evil Sherriff of Nottingham {Mark Barnes}. His costume was brilliant as was his whole performance. A secure Dame {Andre Dore} showed pace and prowess with exactly the right approach to the audience. Her love scenes with Sir Guy Gisbourne {Peter Woodman} were brilliant and their song ‘Honey Honey’ was tremendous fun.

It was great to see Aimee Bullimore onstage again proving that the lowest of the low can come out on top in pantomime and Morgan Booloozian acted up his part to the full although I didn’t really know what he was all about. The two funny guys were played to perfection by Debz Ravera and Zoe Green but without a doubt the winner for sheer performance this year was Becky Wilson for an Oscar winning performance as The Laird of Cock-a-Leekie Castle. She was absolutely brilliant with an outstanding accent and brilliant timing not to mention unforgettable makeup.

Finally, all the technical aspects. A wonderfully simple yet intricately decorated set enabled the show to flow seamlessly from one scene to another.  The lighting and effects complemented the overall presentation and the sound balance was well maintained despite being a difficult location within which to work.  The costumes were bold and beautiful, exactly as expected from a DTS production. This was clearly a team effort and all the hard work of rehearsals resulted in a first class performance.  Many, many congratulations. 

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