Sleeping Beauty

This was a NODA Panto written by Clarke & Clarke and was an updated adaptation of the delightful story of Sleeping Beauty with lots of ‘tongue in cheek’ humour for the adults appreciation along with the slapstick comedy and  traditional “It’s behind you” scenes that the children of today still love. There was a little girl sitting next to us and she was giggling throughout. Such a great way to introduce children to live theatre!  I was told they have a house full of Cubs and Beavers at the Friday performance and I’m sure they will absolutely love it.

Magnificent, the evil witch, played by Melissa Craig did her best to get the rather quiet audience warmed up. She was confident in her portrayal and certainly captured her character well and gave a  quality performance of her main song ‘Caught in a bad romance’. Her ‘sidekicks’  Dumb and Dumber were Harry Harden and James Lovie. These two young men brought energy and a natural comedy to their roles and we will definitely look out for them again in the future.  The Fairy (Issy Alway) was always there with her beautiful poses, bringing a warmth to her role as she cast her magic and saved the day.  Nursie (the Dame) was the larger than life character played by Chris Fryer. He injected good measures of comedy into a role that he is very familiar with, encapsulating his numerous costume changes.  Her son Tommy was played by Ben Cooper along with his childhood friend Bella played by Ellie Hardwick. They were quietly in love with each other,  working well together, and were totally believable.  Aurora, the Princess, played by Ellie Calver looked delightful and every bit a young princess. She sang and danced beautifully and was confident with a lively energy which she gave to her role.  Her Prince was charmingly played by Abbie Noakes. These two were very convincing, they made a good couple, and bonded really well together with sincerity and affection.

The supporting cast and ensemble contributed well to the overall effect of the show with their singing and well choreographed dance routines which included a good skeleton scene. There were appropriate songs including a couple of harmonies from the Principals under the watchful eye of the talented Alfie Lack, the MD.  I was impressed with the quiet support he was giving the singers and his very capable three piece band.

The two Directors wanted to make this an all inclusive production and had several young people in the cast who had no previous experience on stage so this was a wonderful learning opportunity for them and hopefully gave them more confidence going forward.

All in all, though not without it’s difficulties, this was an encouraging performance in this their first pantomime for 50 years, to re-establish Masque Players as a future force in this genre for their loyal supporters. The production was supporting The Rainbow Trust (which supports families with seriously ill children) and I hope you make a good amount to donate to this very worthy cause.

Well done to all the cast and crew for an entertaining evening and we will look forward to many more Pantos from you in the future.

Catherine Dixey. NODA East Representative District E12

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