Robinson Crusoe

Thank you very much for inviting me to your production of Robinson Crusoe. Always it was a pleasure to attend Sparkwell for your annual Pantomime.

 

Robinson Crusoe is not as common of a Panto to be staged with many companies opting to stick to the more well-known big shows and so it was nice to see a company looking elsewhere for their inspiration this year. This years show was set in Brazil with references made to travelling to Plymouth for shipping trade. 

The set as always was built in-house and a well painted backdrop, complete with “Christ the Redeem” statue helped to quickly establish the setting the production. 

 

The opening number of “Lets Get Loud” was exactly that. Loud, bright, full of colour and energy with the company flooding in to the auditorium through the audience and all down the sides. What a great way to grab the audience’s attention from straight from the start. It has to be said that all of the ensemble songs followed suit with the company giving good energy levels and projecting right to the back of the theatre. Well done to all of you.

 

Nutty Nick played a crucial role throughout this production ensuring the audience were on board through his interactions with the audience throughout the evening. Whether they like it or not, at a Sparkwell Panto, the audience will be involved. I must say one of my favourite parts of the evening was the sing-along. Getting two unsuspecting adults up on stage was a touch of genius and had the audience in ruptures of laughter. I think this should be common place across all pantos going forward as it was brilliant on all levels. 

Other characters of note include Margarita and Captain Cut-throat though it should be said that as such an ensemble show as this everyone supported each other well and contributed greatly to the overall production.

 

Choreography was well suited to the whole company with different variations and different sections of songs being choreographed to suit all abilities making this a real inclusive show and allowing everyone to work at their skill level whilst being fully incorporated within the overall production. It takes great skill to pull this off seamlessly.

 

Being a pantomime it has to cater to a wide audience age range and the script was well written including lots of childrens favourite toilet humour and a huge amount of double entendre in “bom tittie bom” that was right on the cusp of suitability and that the Adult audience members greatly appreciated.

 

The slow motion battle scene was well executed and added some great comedy into the production. The UV scene was excellent and incredibly effective giving the dancers in the show a chance to shine throughout this scene.

 

 

Kind regards

   Ryan Procter

   District 3 Representative

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