Sleeping Beauty

The Community Hall was full, as the music played and the lights flashed during a long introduction, building the anticipation. It was good to be at a pantomime after so long without the fun and excitement of the theatre. As the curtains opened, we were certainly not disappointed. The colourful opening number was ‘Celebration’ involving the chorus, and the audience was introduced to Lizzie Clark as Billy. Billy is the butler of King Norbert and Queen Dottie and introduced us to the characters and the plot. Billy is a comedic character and Lizzie did a great job of bringing him to life. She has a strong voice, clear diction and a good stage presence making the character of Billy likable and warm. There were some sound issues during this performance but it did not detract from the overall effect.

Steve Critchell did a fabulous job as Queen Dottie. The script was very funny and Steve played it perfectly, involving the audience with just the right amount of cheekiness. Queen Dottie is also the mother of baby Princess Aurora.

King Norbert was played by Mark Walker, another confident performer, with a strong clear voice and a warm character. The family is completed with the addition of Kitty played by Sue Elliott. The make-up and costumes of all the characters was good and Kitty was a fun character who didn’t speak (until the end) but related well to the other characters and the audience.

The Fairies were a really fun addition. They always appeared in the same order , with the same musical accent, and wore different colours; each had a name on their back and each had a distinctive character. Fairy Small was Emma Dyos, Fairy Liquid by Carly Ersser and Fairy Tall by Jeremy Martin. Fairy Peaceful was played by Anne Horemans.

The villains of the Panto were Carabosse played by Alice Beavis and her talking cat, Spindleshanks, played by Jim Donnell.  Alice was a wonderful baddie; she had a good stage presence and provoked lots of hissing and booing from the audience. Her rendition of ‘I’ll put a spell on you’ was excellent and Spindleshanks just made me laugh. His make-up and hair, were very good and added to his character, he and Carabosse had an amusing relationship and I enjoyed the interplay between them.

The cast would not be complete if I did not mention our grown-up Princess Aurora and her beloved Prince Orlando. Aurora was played by Kirsty Trapp, a gushy eighteen-year-old who falls in love with Orlando played by Deborah Fisher. The love story between these two was fun to watch. Deborah played a foppish young man and her little looks to the audience and her mannerisms were hilarious. After 100 years Orlando’s grandson arrives at the castle to save the day. Although the younger Orlando looked completely different…. (oh no he didn’t!), he was also played by Deborah and transformed into a brave and assertive hero with the help of the Fairies.

The set was effective and consisted of a series of curtain backdrops and the lighting suited the scenes.  

There were so many great additions to the Panto that made it entertaining. The rats in the kitchen were no exception. With many little rats appearing in the all over the set and two big rats in the form of Sydnee Donnell and Cora Ersser. The sequence where the boys and girls of the chorus did their ‘If I didn’t work for the King and Queen’ song was brilliantly funny but spoiled by some microphone issues. The choreography was good throughout show and there was a lot of detail in the performance that made it hard to believe that there has been a short rehearsal period.

As we all know in pantomime there is a convention of women playing men and men playing women. I loved the inclusion of the male fairy and the script that acknowledged a strong and independent Sleeping beauty.

This Panto had fabulous songs, talented performers and just the right amount of audience participation. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for my invitation.

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