Robin Hood And The Babes In The Wood

After a very warm welcome from the front of house my friend and I settled down (in the best seats of course) to watch this years presentation.  Brighouse Theatre Productions selected a different type of pantomime this year.  Robin Hood And The Babes In The Wood is really two different fairy tales mixed up into one, which takes you into the land of myths and legends.  You really need a good script for this production and the cast worked really hard to make this gel, although the pace picked really well in the second act and bounced along.

With a very strong Robin Hood, (Emnma Newsome) confident and experienced, she was well matched with Maid Marion, (Alina McAuley) looking every inch the medieval heroine.  It would have been nice to hear more singing from these two.  Nurse Nellie Nickerlastic, (Sean Brennan) interacted well with his audience and generated lots of laughs.  The sinister Sheriff of Nottingham, (Chris Peacock) I feel could have been a little nastier.

Every pantomime has its "Brokers Men" only this time they were the Sheriff's men Snivel and Grovel, (Kamran Mohammed, Diane Bowers) these two worked their socks off and oozed comedy.  The Babes Sam and Ella, (Phoebe Gibson, Isabelle Harrison) portrayed  their roles with confidence, both giving assured performances especially in the bedroom scene with the Ghosts.

There were three teams of dancers Senior, Intermediate and Junior all a delight to watch in their well-rehearsed routines.  The sparkling costumes were superb throughout, well done wardrobe.  I did find the Orchestra was a little loud in places and we did lose the words at times, although I thought the scenery was much improved this year.

Congratulations to all both on and off stage.

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