Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood

And now for something completely different…Abandon any thoughts of the tale of the ‘daring do’ of Robin Hood and his Merry Men from your childhood, move forward a century or two, and think rock concert with heavy metal and a major influence from Meatloaf! 

This panto was altogether a ‘new’ experience with the driving force of a Director who wanted to ‘rock the boat’ and an MD with a reputation for ‘big’ production shows…and believe me this was BIG ! Every number was a production number and the whole company including the, er… ‘babes’, and the two junior teams , Bows and Arrows, were faced with some intricate and taxing choreography which oozed quality and energy throughout!

After some heavy metal ‘riffs’ from the pit… We were entranced by a beautiful sequinned Fairy Enchantress, (Ashleigh Hitter) who battled to sustain the good versus evil theme of any self respecting panto, and was faced with the formidable persona of The Wicked Sorceress (Judi Mars) who was assisted by her ‘evil son’ the leather clad ‘mummy’s boy’ bully, The Sherriff of Nottingham (Chris Penn) and his outrageous cretinous sidekick Numbskull (Paula Crisp)…how we loved to boo this pair and their madcap antics! They had no hope against the young  leading Players in this show, Robin Hood (Thomas Major) and Maid Marion (Emily Takman), they were made for each other and certainly never missed an opportunity to seal the deal with a kiss ! May have expected to see a bit more of them, but they were truly the glamorous couple destined for greater things as they develop and mature their skills; their duets showed their vocal potential, and the finale to Act1 where  a Motor cycle race and medley of Meatloaf songs, really gave Robin (Thomas) the chance to show his versatility and style as he moved through the essential play list of any Meatloaf fan! Great stuff! Yes I did say motor cycles (big silver ones!), and the local street scene chase was breath taking…if a little over the speed limit! These young stars had excellent stage presence!

There had to be a dame and Dame Nanny Annie Fanny (Nick Garrod) showed he still had the guile needed to harangue an audience with witty repartee and make the most of his short appearances, with an outrageous frock for every occasion! He was matched by the kids favourite, the energetic, ubiquitous Will Scarlett ( Lee Nevill ), who seemed to be everywhere and kept the Dame on her toes, especially in the slapstick scene where he was well and truly soaked with decorating paste and general gunge…We Knew what was to come of course but that is so much the fun of panto…old jokes and traditional interludes, including ‘the bench’ ! He really worked his ‘red’ socks off!

Can you have too much of a good thing? Oh yes you can, and maybe, just maybe, there was an attempt here to squeeze all the traditional items plus a new approach to the musicality which was so much in evidence here! There was no doubt that this was something that had a fresh and modern approach to panto…The Merry Men, Friar Tuck (Stephen Wilson), Little Joan (Pat Creegan), Much The Millers Son ( Matt Wade), Alan ‘A’ Dale (Trevor Toms), really had little to do, and perhaps paid the price of this ‘new style’ panto where the story played second fiddle to the total musicality of the piece…The finale song reprising, among other favourites, said it all….’ We Will Rock You’, and they certainly did! The audience loved it and the Players can be proud to be trail blazers as this attempt to bring panto and hard rock music to the stage of the Marina…The quality of the whole package was clear to see, and hear, and bodes well for the two next ‘big’ productions this year with Evita at the Bethel (Players Theatre) and later in the year ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ at The Marina. So much to look forward to! ‘Rock on!’.

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