Sleeping Beauty

We attended Sleeping Beauty on opening night and received a very warm welcome from the front of house team - thank you. The curtains were closed on the stage with a baby's cradle set to the front right in front of the curtains. The audience were very excited as the lights dimmed and the show started. The set here is always quite minimalistic due to storage constraints, backdrops are printed on vinyl and attatched to hardboard across the back - this is very effective in this space. I was particularly impressed with the way the growing vines were portrayed, it was very effective. I would personally, however, have liked to see far more cobwebs etc on the characters right before they wake up.  The lighting plot was sympathetic to the scenes and fairly generic - it would be nice to see some more adventurous lighting, but I am unsure of the capabilities of this particular  lighting board. Sound was fine for the most part with no particular gremlins except for being a little too low and quiet on the fairy, the balance between music and dialogue was good.

The chorus executed the choreography by Rebecca Henry and Samantha Martin well. There were a few nerves evident, but no major mishaps. The trio of junior fairies (Eevie Veevers, Annabelle Jebb and Isabella Michaels) were under the watchful eye of Fairy Cake played by Jenny Taylor. Jenny was every inch the boss fairy right down to her sparkly shoes and she certainly had her work cut out with the sassy trio, her diction was good, but at times it was difficult to hear her. We had no problems hearing Nancy (Carole Griffiths) when she appeared. Carole knows exactly how to work an audience and soon had them eating out of her hands with her larger than life character. She was joined in her antics by Jester played by Tony Cenci, the chemistry between these two on stage is great and although there were quite a few line drops and prompts the audience were having an absolute blast - especially when sweets were thrown out and yes, I did catch some. Thank you, Jester! Martin Taylor played Carabosse the villain of the piece and he was soon elicting Boo's from the audience. Jade Veevers was every inch the principal boy complete with perfectly executed thigh slap, she was confident and very at home on the stage. Grown up Aurora was played by Jessica Thornton who also have a confident performance.

Costumes, hair and make up  looked great throughout the whole show, very bright and fitting to the characters. The use of confetti cannons at the end of a show are always well received and sent this audience into a frenzy!

Well done on your production of Sleeping Beauty. I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. 

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