Sinbad the Sailor

Having seen this company perform pantomime over the past five years I know their productions can be guaranteed to give excellent entertainment.

It was excellent that the club had decided upon something different and challenging, after all there are only so many ways to present Dick Whittington and Jack and the Beanstalk, so well done to them for taking up the challenge.

But the problem lay with the script, it just wasn’t a pantomime, it was more of a play with music and the pace of the show suffered because of the complex, wordy script. So unfortunately Sinbad the Sailor didn’t work for me as a pantomime because the pantomime elements were contrived to fit in where possible.

Despite the limitations of the script many of the company gave very good performances and they lifted the show providing very entertaining scenes

The delight and joy of pantomime is that it can be enjoyed by children from three to ninety three, sadly for the hard working performers on the night I attended, there were very few young children in the audience and therefore this ‘very adult’ audience gave the performers quite a hard task. The cast tried manfully to get them on side and eventually won the audience over.

There were many good performances, who with their experience, held the whole show together.

The ‘genie’ and narrator had a lovely speaking voice, crystal clear she told the story with great eloquence. Sinbad gave a convincing performance with her good singing voice and stage presence.

Tinbad the Tailor also had good comedy timing and delivered his comic lines very well. He was well partnered by Shanti who was an attractive foil to his character. 

As a newcomer to the club Mephisto tried really hard, he looked fantastic with excellent make up and costume and had a wonderfully evil laugh.

Black-Eyed-Pete gave her usual experienced comic performance, always understated and always funny.

The accolade of the evening went to Mrs Sinbad… this man was born to be ‘a dame’, funny, excellent stage presence, good rapport with a tough audience (you managed successfully to get them on board). 

The chorus worked very hard and the company singing was mostly good.

The music was interesting, and the small combo worked well.

I imagine directing Sinbad the Sailor was difficult, the script offered few opportunities for director’s interpretation and imagination. But there was a very successful reworking of the ‘Chris Harris’ sketch which I enjoyed very much… timing was critical and it was spot on. There was a good shipwreck scene with lots of opportunity for good lighting which worked well. Sound was excellent I could hear every word, even from the back of the hall. The ‘club produced’ scenery worked and was well painted and constructed, leaving plenty of room for the performers. The costumes were very colourful and worn well by the performers. Mrs Sinbad’s costumes were outstanding, her hats were a delight and ‘she’ looked so comfortable and shapely in her ‘dresses.

I think Clevedon Comedy Club did a very good job with a rather creaky and dull script, so well done to everyone.

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