Sleeping Beauty

On a rather soggy Saturday afternoon, a warm welcome awaited me on my first visit to Pratts Bottom Dramatic Society’s panto ‘Sleeping Beauty’.                                                         

The stage at the village hall was beautifully decorated with coloured lights around the proscenium, and a castle turret stood to one side. While some scenes unfolded in front of the curtains, their opening revealed vibrant scenery that was truly impressive. The set designers and construction team deserve praise for their excellent work. The technical aspects effectively supported the artistic vision, although the ‘atmospheric smoke’ at the end of Act 1 was a bit overwhelming, especially for the children sitting in the front row. Jack Holloway's good lighting design shifted from bright, colourful scenes to dimmer tones for the villain.  Costumes looked good. Sound for the most part was good but at times I felt that the soundtrack music overwhelmed the singing. MD Bryony Da Silva made a great choice of  recognisable music. Singing by soloists and ensemble was good.  I was impressed with Young Aurora (Emily Boatwright-team 2), Young Avarice (Imogen Bailey-team 2) and Young Arthur (Clark Ring-team 2). They kept calm when there was a sound glitch as they were about to start their solos – well done. Generally all the children were well disciplined as I am sure Team 1 were as well! Hannah Gruneberg designed imaginative and impactful dances for both ensemble and individual characters, enabling every cast member, adults and children alike, to join in and shine no matter their skill level. It was wonderful to see everyone smiling!

Claire Sheehy played Muddles with lots of energy, constantly smiling and worked well with the audience. Michelle Ring as Fairy Starlight, Amanda Shilstone  as Fairy Moonbeam and Fiona Gruneberg as Fairy Dust, all worked well together to bring us that fairy magic. Laura Clout as Queen of Hearts and Natalie Craker as Old King Cole  together with Dan Johnson as Archbishop or ‘Archie’ must have had a great time creating and playing their characters. Amanda Courtney as Carabosse was suitably evil in her plotting and scheming to gain the crown. She certainly got the audience booing every time she appeared! Her daughter Avarice was well played by Chloe Twose (team 2). A mention to whoever was in the huge dragon costume that came through the audience for their moment of glory only to be dispatched by Princess Aurora. The main characters of course were Princess Aurora (Annie Seward-team 2) and Prince Arthur (Scarlett Bagley) they worked well together on stage. Last but not least was Damon Norville as Nanny Nightnurse. Fabulous rapport with the audience and connection with the rest of the cast. He really brought great energy onto the stage and the fun factor. Excellent performance Damon!

Director Mike Darbon brought his wealth of experience into this production to make it a colourful fun-filled show for all ages both for cast and audience.

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