Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty is the oft told fairy tale of a princess cursed by an evil fairy to sleep for one hundred years after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. What happens prior to, and after she falls asleep, is very different in pantomime/ fairy tale to folklore. In this version, the spell is unbreakable by any other fairy than Fairy Nightshade. Even the Fairy Queen cannot break this spell, but being smarter than the average Fairy Queen, she puts a spell on the rest of the palace to put them to sleep, so that when Beauty awakens, rather than wake up to lifeless husks around her, they`ll wake with her fresh as a daisy and not a day older (or something like that).

The story flips between past and present and on the odd occasion mixing up the two together. How do you tell the difference between the two? I hear you ask - you have a narrator in the form of Wizard Wombosa and his box of magic to tell you what`s going on. Bob Needham took on the role of Wombosa, popping on and off whenever the audience called him onstage to tend to his flashing box. I think that this is one of those roles that is so bitty and every entrance so similar that on occasion the dialogue seemed a little jumbled and didn`t run with what was happening in the story, but Bob delivered it with conviction. This could, of course, have just been down to the script which I`ll probably mention a few times in my review! Special mention must go to Bob`s beard which was as convincing as any beard in the Life of Brian stoning scene.

The roles Fairy Queen and Fairy Nightshade were played by Nicky Diggle and Denise King - as always both diction perfect and bouncing off each other well in their confrontational scenes.

With many pantomimes, the role of Prince shows up last minute, wakes the girl, and they all live happily ever after. Not so with this one- the role of Prince Florizal (Princess Beauty’s love interest) and her servant Rupert Dilettant were introduced from the off and undertaken by Kim Little and Adam Atkinson. It`s not easy being a romantic lead in panto and sometimes less-so playing their servant, but both did well in their roles, with Kim`s singing and Adam`s sardonic delivery keeping us entertained whilst moving us through the story.

As the leading lady you generally don`t get many gags, but you do get  to sing a lot. Phoebe Adelyn played the role of Princess Beauty with a great singing voice and characterisation being ushered around hither and thither by her rather serious Nurse, Cecilia Beauchamp-Smythe, played with aplomb by Angela Nevinson, with what seemed to be the most lines in the show. One thing though, Princess Beauty seemed to have borrowed Cinderella`s pre-ball knock offs…..

The “Dame” role in this production came in the guise of Queen Maria, played by Mark Johnson. Sadly for Mark, the script didn`t really give him a chance to shine. The audience loved him, and rightly so, but there really wasn`t enough in the show for him to get his teeth into which is such a shame and a waste of Mark's considerable talents.

Peter Buckley and Carole Leech played King Wimple and Queen Grandilla well. As Beauty`s parents they drove the story in the past - Carole showing off her vocal talents in a running gag and Peter`s often put upon bumbling King doing whatever he was told. James Beech assuredly played the Secret Palace`s Herald-eking out as much from it as possible.

There were two, yes two comedy duos in this version of Sleeping Beauty- Bubble and Squeak played by Matt Berry, and Mop and Brush-up, played by Helen Day and Sue Little (also doubling up as Sir Lionel, the Pantomime Horse, although the programme doesn`t state which ends!). Again, with both double acts, I felt that the script let them down - all four worked hard and stuck to it, but the material just wasn`t there.

Last, and by no means least, was Mother Blackheart played expertly by Lindsey Jackson. If ever you need a lesson in how to play a panto role, watch Lindsey.  Lindsey’s Mother Blackheart was deliciously evil. As ever her wealth of experience and understanding  in pantomime came to the fore, audience in the palm of her hand, having the kids on their feet booing and hissing her the instant she came on. Well done, Lindsey.

Other smaller roles and chorus were played well and at a standard in keeping with the production. The chorus were well drilled in movement and singing - it was nice to see smiles and words sung a plenty.

Staging was good and worked well, depicting present and past well, with the set pieces working well.

One of the main themes throughout the show (and this review) is the script. In my opinion, there were way too many characters whose time on stage never really allowed a connection between them and the audience - it was as if the “present” characters had been created to end up coupled with the “past” characters, and that in some ways was their only reason to be there.

Everybody up on stage was giving it their all, but I must say the script let them down. This may have been a NODA script, but I think this is one which needs a good “coat of looking at”, shall we say and my feelings haven`t changed on this since I was actually in it ‘x’ number of years ago. That said - the performers and the audience had a great time, as did I and the dude I was sat with.

Choreography was simple and effective allowing everyone to shine. It was nice to see that they`d all learnt the songs too - this makes a huge difference to the scenes that chorus are involved in.

Orchestra under Ciara Preston was, as ever, really good. I do like to see an orchestra at any musical production as they do have a better feel of what`s going on and can be as interactive as the audience.

Sue Little as Director must be proud of what she, and the company, have produced. She couldn`t have asked for, or expected more from her performers.

Thank You, Ulverston Pantomime Society for your invitation and hospitality

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