Sleeping Beauty

Heading into 2024, pantomime season is in full swing, and it was a pleasure to visit the Norbury Players once again for this year’s offering, Sleeping Beauty.  Written and directed by Norbury member Fiona Andrews, this was a largely traditional take on the story, albeit sporting one or two innovations, such as a framing story featuring a storyteller (Lucy Conn) who (spoiler) would turn out to be an older version of Beauty. 

And so we were transported to the town of Sleepydale (later to be known as Droitwich!), where we met the nicely named King Timidly and Queen Bossynova (John Birchley and Becky Fearnley, both living up to their names!)  The newborn Beauty in her pram was wheeled on and off-stage by our Dame – Nurse Nanny Biscuits.  Matt Fearnley had plenty of audience interaction in the role, and some nice banter with Jimmy Hill, who brought good energy to the part of his nephew, Jolly Jack.  These two shared plenty of corny panto one-liners, which got the laughs going most effectively.

On then to the christening of Beauty, where the good and bad fairies took centre stage.  Good fairy Snowdrop (Karen Evans) was accompanied by a veritable troop of fairies, all wearing matching wigs and dresses in a variety of bright colours.  They brought a lovely magical feel to the show whenever they appeared, well done to all of them!  On the side of the baddies, Amanda Blockley was a very boo-able Nightshade, just right for a panto villain as she and her goblin sidekicks (Emmie Collins and Stacy Harrison) put a spell on the Court.  Her conversion to the good side at the end of the show was a nice touch and well executed. 

It seemed quite a long time before we got to meet Beauty herself, but it was worth the wait as Darcie Eglesfield delivered a strong performance, full of winning personality and showing off a very tuneful singing voice.  As her principal boy, Prince Eric, Jess Dutton was also strong and had a nice comic interaction with sidekick Rupert, played with relish by Christopher Newbould.  Rounding out the principal cast were Grace Duggan as Beauty’s best friend (and Jack’s eventual match) Mollie; Sarah Smith as Queen Matilda; and Carl Smyth as a put-upon Lord Chamberlain. 

The principals were well supported by a large ensemble of villagers, courtiers and woodland folk (the scene in which Eric and Rupert were trapped in the trees was particularly well done.)  A trio of dancers (Megan Clarke, Emily Dutton and Holly Rowsell) contributed some variety in an entrancing series of balletic routines, and a very cute (and clearly well-rehearsed) junior chorus were absolutely charming.  Three cheers to all of them!

Writer-director Fiona Andrews did a good job of keeping the action moving, although I admit to being a bit confused when the Court woke up before the Prince had delivered his spell-breaking kiss!  This was a fairly lengthy show, and the halves a little unbalanced by the (understandable) desire to place the moment Beauty falls asleep at the interval.  I did wonder whether some of the songs and dance routines might have been trimmed a bit, to keep the running time a little shorter. 

This was a panto in which the singing and dancing was of a particularly high standard, indeed at times I felt I was watching a full-blown musical rather than a pantomime.  Congratulations, then, are due to the performers, to choreographer Kirsty Purvis and musical director Ben Thompson, who provided musical accompaniment alongside Keith Lewis and, occasionally, members of the cast.

The show played out in front of a series of nice backdrops for the outdoor scenes, and an impressive Royal Palace interior.  These backdrops felt like a real step up in quality, so my congratulations to the set design and construction team.  Lighting was also well handled and suitably atmospheric, particularly for the scenes in which Nightshade was lit in spooky green.  Sound was well balanced for the most part, although there was the occasional issue with the radio mics.  The wardrobe department did a very nice job with the costumes, which were colourful and spot-on in terms of panto style and individual characterisation.

Congratulations to everyone at the Norbury for producing a thoroughly entertaining pantomime, which was clearly well appreciated by the packed out audience.  How great to see such a large cast of all ages on stage, whose enjoyment in performance was infectious.  Oh, yes it was!  I look forward to seeing what else you have in store for 2024.

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