Robin Hood

Well, what a way to start a new year! From the moment Helen Collins appeared on stage as the Spirit of Sherwood, I knew we were in for an evening of fun and laughter. Taking us through the story of Robin Hood, after deliberately getting confused with every other pantomime going, we learn all about the deeds of Robin Hood: stealing from the rich to give to the poor, falling in love with Maid Marion and fending off the dastardly deeds of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Maid Marion, played by Bethany Fieldsend was a genuine leading lady, she had a lovely voice and displayed a confident air on stage. Trying to spoil her love interest in Robin Hood was the Sheriff of Nottingham played by Andy Nicholls. He had a commanding presence on stage and left the audience in no doubt that he was the evil villain, his strong baritone voice was evident during his musical numbers. Alex Woolliscroft was in the title role of Robin Hood, he definitely had the legs to pull off the green tights! Alex displayed all of his experience both vocally and in the way he moved around the stage. There was no doubt that Chris Flint as Will Scarlet stole the show. His comedic timing was spot on, and the one-liners just kept on coming, working the audience with every one of them. He was very ably supported by Brian Washington as Friar Tuck/Nurse Nelly Nightnurse, together they were a formidable pair, reacting and responding to each other to extract every ounce of humour. Once again, Cannock Chase Drama Society gave me an insight to the future, with confident performances from the two cousins, Pip and Penny. On the evening I watched, these were played by Daisy Parsons and Elsie Traat, they had lovely clear diction and I didn’t miss a word. I’m sure that Emily Jarvis and Savannah-Rose Colbourn would have been equally as impressive during their performances.

The ensemble supported the principals with tightly choreographed dance movements and tuneful chorus numbers.  The costumes and scenery were vibrant and shouted ‘pantomime’, it was a very colourful spectacle. The whole show was performed to backing tracks but at times the balance between the stage and backing was not quite right, particularly during spoken dialogue.

I must congratulate Jamie Jones on an extremely funny script, it was very well constructed, and the ‘speciality’ scenes only enhanced the show and did not detract from the story. Julie Hunter did a very good job to make the most of this script with clear direction which the cast responded to throughout.

This was a really enjoyable evening, so much to enjoy, and everyone in the audience left the theatre forgetting the January Blues. Well done CCDS for an excellent production.

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