Sleeping Beauty

This was my first visit to Pontesbury and therefore to Pontesbury Players. I was delighted to receive the invitation to Sleeping Beauty for what was opening night.

Having never been to Pontesbury before the first task was to find the venue. This was not too bad as the surrounding area was busy with parked cars and eager members of the public heading in the right direction.

A warm welcome followed by escorting to a reserved seat in the packed public hall. Numerous keen and excitable cubs and scouts were sat on the front rows.

Steve Thomas the chair of the group gave the usual fire talk before acting as the warm up act (not that the front rows needed warming up) – testing out our ability to shout, ‘behind you’. Steve told us about the young cast and indeed many were, hopefully if they remain in Pontesbury local amdram is safe in the future.

Speaking of panto tradition I was pleased to see Pontesbury Players, by and large, keeping to the good and bad side of the stage. Chief Fairy was well played by Adele Thain with a following of fairies played by Helen Stokes, Ann Martinali, Eve Sullivan, Evie Edwards and Daisy Paddan.  

Equally well played was Fairy Grott by Siân Campbell- Curtis who revelled in the boos she got throughout the performance.

There was a good pairing of King and Queen played by Kelsey Stevens and David Williams who were rather unsure how to care for the baby Princess Rose. Lucky some 18 years later the Princess was played confidently by Tegan Bebb with Jane Pemberton as Nanny State.

The hero, Prince Harry was played by a dashing Guy Campbell-Curtis along with his trusty sidekick, spot the dog, played by Will Mew.

I am not sure whether the script called for numerous villagers or just the one playing all the parts. Whichever, the casting of Malcolm Whittall was wonderful. I thought the adding of a wig or a moustache on a stick was ingenious. Each villager even got their own curtain call!

Malcolm was involved in an x-ray scene – must agree wagon wheels do seem to have got smaller!!

John Rice played a believable vicar who was not quite sure what ceremony he was proceeding over. Meanwhile Stevan Warburton played the cuckoo who at times managed to escape from the clock.

As mentioned at the start, this was my first visit to Pontesbury therefore some of the gags and indeed characters passed me by such as Neville Lewis (John Rice) and Hignett’s (Hog) (Stevan Warburton). As I was in the minority, and the performance centred around the local community, these references all went down well with those in the know.

Great use was of the hall itself with action taking place through the aisles – causing even more excitement for the younger members of the audience.

The sets behind the main tabs were good, well done to Wendy Carter and team.

I was informed there were some issues with the lighting on the opening evening of the show. The light was however, I thought, good especially for a smaller venue such as Pontesbury Public Hall with pink and green lighting for the goodie and baddy sides.

An enjoyable evening in Pontesbury – thank you. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.