Robinson Crusoe

On a cold Christmassy evening with snow falling, I visited my first panto of the season by Jarrow MTC – and what a pleasure it was. They are such a friendly society, and that exudes from every pore as they perform on stage. Everyone of the cast looked as though they were enjoying themselves, and it was a large cast although didn’t seem to leave the stage cluttered on any occasion.

The dance troupe, ably assisted by a talented ensemble of singers, dancers and actors, was from En Pointe Dance Academy. All the girls were faultless (coached well by dance captains Katie Whyte and Ebony Barron) and enhanced the production tremendously.

The music as provided by an enjoyably in tune combo under the direction of Freda Carney did not overpower and played the eclectic mix of old and new numbers with ease. Talking about overpowering the sound balance was spot on and the excellent lighting was provided by Hi-Lights and Joseph Coulson and provided atmospheric scenes – especially in the ubiquitous UV scenes of sea creatures under the sea. The costumes from the cast and Dress Circle Entertainment Ltd. were very good and colourful.

The titular role of Robinson Crusoe was played by Adam McKeith – nice swashbuckling skills! – of course every leading man needs a leading lady and his onstage love interest was fulfilled by ‘Polly Perkins’ played by Kelsey Holder who performed well despite what I suspect was a heavy head cold.
Lawrence Clark took on the role of Polly’s father and managed to ‘save the day’ at the finale.

Chief of the island of cannibals was ‘Friday’ ably acted by Tamara Wilson.

Every panto needs a villain and a ‘fairy godmother’ type role, and Jillaine Hindson fulfilled the role of ‘goodie’ resplendent in shimmery gossamer silk like undersea costume and sang with a fine voice. The ‘baddie’ was played by Liam Olsen (‘Captain Blacktashe’) ably assisted by villainous (but somewhat naïve) sidekick ‘Winkle’ (Luke Carr). Liam generally gets to play dark characters whether straight drama or comedy and in actual fact is a remarkably nice guy and looks at ease on the stage…

The Crusoe family was completed by ‘dad’ ‘Captain Crusoe’ (David Bruce) who was ready with the odd quip and ad-lib; In an unfamiliar role Grayson Wood took on the role of ‘Dame Crystal Crusoe’ with aplomb. The vision of him in that ‘ittsy wittsie tiny polka dot bikini is seared onto my eyes forever….
Making up the final family member was ‘Sprat Crusoe’ played by the versatile Frances Wood who held the audience in the palm of her hand with her ad-lib and comedic timing – especially when getting covered in ‘fleur’ (Flour) in the baking scene. Perhaps the warmest laugh of the night was when she called her onstage ‘mum’ by his real-life title of ‘dad’…

In the presence of author Tom Whalley, performing this year in pro panto at the Sunderland Empire, the audience lapped up this seasonal serving of the slightly irreverent, but very funny latest Jarrow undertaking which had all the usual elements of good panto.

This has set me in a festive mood – well done Jarrow MTC…

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