Sinbad The Sailor

Panto is alive and well in Steeple Bumpstead - oh, yes it is!  The village hall, with its excellent facilities, was packed to the gunnels for this sea-farin' romp, written and produced by one of the society's members, Stephanie Manning.

Very loosely based on the story of Sinbad, the action took place very close to home - in and around "Bumpstead-on-Sea" - following Sinbad's adventures on board Pirate Colin's vessel 'The Enterprise Revenge', their shipwreck on the "island" of Birdbrook and eventual safe return home, aided by the good Mermaid Coral, who finally avenges the destructive and evil powers of Manatee, Queen of the Sirens.

Traditional pantomime should be full of over-the-top characters, plenty of opportunities for audience participation and a good storyline.  All these elements were nicely combined in this fun-filled production, which kept the audience well-entertained throughout the afternoon.  There were some good performances, too, amongst the cast, who were obviously enjoying themselves.

Young Jacob Parrott as Sinbad the Sailor, soon won over the hearts of the audience with his confident and solid performance.  The villainous comedy duo pirates Skull and Crossbones, were well characterised by Andy Boulstridge and David Phillips.  Sheila Bronson as Manatee, the evil Queen of the Sirens, was suitably menacing and Steve Woolmer made a good pantomime dame, Madam Victory, in his patriotic costume, complete with wonderful ship-shaped hat!

Another young performer, Maisie Flight, as Madam Victory's young daughter Nel (Nelson) Victory, seemed, at times, a little nervous in her role.  Consequently, her dialogue was often rather rushed and she struggled a little with her vocal solo.  However, her smile and stage presence helped to overcome her edginess and she and Sinbad portrayed, well, the young couple in love.  Robin Hughes was masterful in his role as the Dread Pirate Colin and steered his motley crew through some tricky situations.  Harry Camp as his cabin boy Luke, was another fine young actor; with excellent stage-presence and confident and clear delivery of his lines, along with his two-legged camel Laurence (well-animated by Emily Carter), .

Catherine Evans as Coral The Mermaid looked amazing in her fish-tail costume and matched it with her delightful and warm performance, out-witting the evil Manatee and negotiating with Empress Jatayu of Birdbrook Island for the ship-wrecked crew's safe return - nice cameo performances here from Triss Pollington and her trusted vulture Roc played by Victoria Love.

In their supporting roles as ship's crew, Anna Potts as Scottie, Jo Smith as TomTom and Jonathan Lowe as Birdseye, sometimes lacked voice projection, so consequently some of the humour in their dialogue was lost, which was a pity.  Likewise, Becca Butcher as Linda and Anna Flight and Molly Gregory could not always be clearly heard during their brief but frequent appearances as members of Aladdin's Fan Club, "mobbing" Sinbad by mistake!

Musically, the performance lacked some polish and the choreography was a little predictable, although the opening scene in Act Three on Coral's Reef, was colourful and well-animated - the various sea creatures and seahorses a delight.  The well designed scenery and superb costumes certainly added much to the overall visual effects achieved, together with good sound effects and lighting plot.  Overall, a very enjoyable performance, much appreciated by the supportive audience.  Well done!

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