SINBAD THE SAILOR

I am very familiar with Alan Frayn scripts but this one was a new one for me and proved very entertaining. Aspects of the script were very familiar and there was more than a passing resemblance to Aladdin, with elements of Dick Whittington. I was unfamiliar with the story but in a nutshell Princess Miranda is presented with the priceless Persian Pearl of Peace for her 18th birthday by Prince Said. Evilena steals the pearl but the blame falls on Sinbad. Sinbad is clapped in jail and Prince Said offers his life as exchange for Sinbad knowing that Sinbad can find the pearl. Everyone sets off to sea, and everything ends up happily ever after but not without a shipwreck, 2 brokers men getting in on the act, the princess creeping on board ship, an old man of the sea etc etc – see what I mean about similarities with other panto stories !!

Andrew had instilled a good element of racy fun into this show. He ensured that there was good pace , avoiding pauses with scene changes and ensuring the dialogue moved along even while curtains and cloths were still coming into place. Musical numbers were kept short to avoid outstaying their welcome and to further ensure good pace. Principal performances were lively and very upbeat and everyone certainly appeared to be having a great time. It is an essential of pantomime to ensure pace and life and this was certainly achieved here.

Louise Bennett was a very shapely and lively Sinbad. She has a nice perkiness to her performances that I like,.  Katie Wiliams sang superbly as Princess Miranda and she was well paired with Sam Horstead as Prince Said. These roles could so easily become a bit slushy, and thus boring to the kids in the audience,  but both ensured that they kept an eye on the comedy as well , especially Sam.

Cat Laird is normally someone who is happy to perform within the ranks of the ensemble and dancers, but as Evilena she showed that she is more than up to the job of playing a major role. She had good clarity and stage presence and made a very entertaining baddie.

Comedy was in the capable hands of a variety of characters, but most notably Sarah mallet as Silly Sally and Richard Ward as Norma Snickers. Richard is renowned in Newton pantos for his ability to move off script and ad lib to huis hearts delight (much to the audiences amusement) . Newcomer Sarah will be a great assets to the company and had great empathy with the audience who were very firmly on her side. She produced a very attractive entertaining idiot caught up in proceedings. The comic pairing was Marc Forward and Isobel Burley as Snaffle and Trace. They worked well together and while Marc is an established principal player, Isobel showed that she is very capable of a good comic character portrayal. Another company newcomer Charles Bowdidge completed a very strong principal comedy line up as Tinbad the tailor and he and Sarah worked well together.

Maxine Hobson made the most of her brief appearances as Fortuna, the fairy character of the piece and looking slightly dismayed at the bizarre goings on she is trying to control.

Smaller cameo roles were very capably played by Sam Dishart, Elaine Harvey, Andy Killen and Anna Turner I particularly liked the slave selling scene which had just the right bizarre quality for panto.

The ensemble and small team of dancers and junior dancers were well drilled and the musical numbers came across very well indeed and everyone smiled ! I liked the choice of music which suited the company very well and there was nothing at all which the characters struggled with. There was a choice of modern and established pieces to ensure the storyline and requirements for pace were respected, but that the audience could relate to as well.

The 4-piece pit band supported well and musically the show was well planned with enough interludes and percussion support when required for stage business.

Costumes had been largely provided from society stocks and the show was costumed colourfully. I did miss some of the glitz of costumes from companies such as triple C who have been used here in the past, but a good job was done on a tight budget. Scenery was very effective, largely a selection of well chosen cloths, which were nicely lit by some excellent lighting designs.

Sound was a little dodgy at times, not with regards to operation, but with regards to clarity of some of the mics but this is a minor gripe in what was a very successful evening. This group puts on one of the better amateur pantomimes in this district and the audience greatly enjoyed their evening, giving the show a rousing reception at the final curtain.

 

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