24th April 2025
Anything Goes
West End Operatic Society, Tyne Theatre Opera House
Robin Hood and The Babes in the Wood
Author: Foster Johnson
Information
- Date
- 10th January 2015
- Society
- Caprian Theatre Company
- Venue
- The Dryden Centre, Gateshead
- Type of Production
- Pantomime
- Director
- Jeff Waites
- Musical Director
- Enid Stafford
- Choreographer
- Cheryl Hewitt
The pantomime season continues on its merry way and The Caprian Theatre Company made its own mark on the genre with a truly outstanding performance of Jeff Waites’s ‘Robin Hood and The Babes in The Wood’.
Directed by the Author himself and with added excellent support from Musical Director Enid Stafford and Choreographer Cheryl Hewitt, the Company once again delivered on all levels, something we have all come to expect from this talented group of players.
In front of a delighted audience, this production gave us all a wonderful night’s entertainment, intertwining the folklore of Robin Hood and The Babes in the Wood. It included all that you would come to expect from a pantomime, and squeezed out every drop of humour and pathos there was to be had, coupled with some wonderful singing.
In a Pantomime you cannot afford to carry any passengers in the cast as everyone is crucial to the plot and its success. It has to be believable, especially for the children in the audience. In this show there were none. From Principals to the Chorus and Dancers all played their parts exceptionally well.
Charlotte Black and Russell Rafferty played Robin Hood and the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in true character fashion respectively, whilst Helen McKenry was delightful as the heroine Maid Marion. The Dame (Nurse Trumpet), an over the top character if ever there was one, was brilliantly portrayed by Kevin Riley. There is no better Dame I have seen in the amateur field. His side kick Alice, played by Pam Dias, was also a perfect foil for him.
They were well supported by the other Principals in the Show. Kim Robinson as the Wicked Witch, Robin’s Merrie Men in the shape of Daniel Fenwick (Friar Tuck) and Rexine Perry( Will Scarlett) Sam Monkhouse (Captain of The Guard) and Alix Cunningham(The Good Fairy) We must also not forget The Babes themselves delightfully played by Daniel Huggins and Emily Newell.
In conclusion, I finally reserve a very special mention for Steve Nichol and Simon Devlin. They really gave a first class polished performance of the hapless duo of Herbert and Hubert. Their knockabout routines were a delight, and their intuitive understanding of each other enabled them to deliver every comic line to perfection
© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.