Snow White

My first revue of the year takes place the night before the District Awards.  I returned to The Daneside Theatre, Congleton to see Snow White by Congleton Pantomime.  Aptly named, I drove to the venue whilst it was starting to snow!  We all know and love the fairy tale Snow White and I’m sure that many of us have seen various productions of this panto over the years.  I’m pleased to say that this version was a near sell out!  Congleton Pantomime’s have been produced for forty years so they must be doing something right to attract their audiences year after year and tonight was no exception.

Set traditionally with traditional costumes and set, this panto tells the story of Queen Tatiana and her quest to be the fairest in all of the land – cue Snow White!  The rest of the story is played out through the comedic characters such as Muddles, Dame Polly Plop, Petunia Plop and Willie Eckerslike!  Willie Eckerslike is a brilliant name and deserves a NODA nomination on its own! 

Directed and written by Darren Brown, it is clear that there are a lot of jokes in this script.  The script is very cleverly written, and I loved all of the nuances that Darren brought to the script.  At times, some of the jokes didn’t quite hit the mark for whatever reason but I loved them all the same.  I suspect that some of the action was written around the jokes, which meant that some scenes were longer than they should’ve been but as it’s Panto – nobody minded.  Having four comedy characters meant that the audience were not fully on board with any of the characters like they normally would do.  Normally it’s the Dame role that has all of the laughs and the others add to this.  I felt that there were too many similar characters to fully hit the audience in the face with the jokes and wise cracks.  This pantomime has all the makings to be a hit.  As I mentioned before, the script is very funny etc but for me the severe lack of pace meant that it sometimes felt more like a traditional tale rather than a Pantomime.  If this show had more pace and attack then it would have been a rip-roaring time, instead, it was good old nice fun.  Some of the other choices to include the townswomen who appeared and disappeared at the start and end of a song was quite old school.  I personally would’ve had them used much more throughout to aid the set dressing and the action, but this is just a personal thought.

The choreography for this production was good, however, I felt that I was watching a rehearsal rather than a performance.  The dancers, who I could tell were talented, simply marked the movement and lacked attack which contributed to the overall lack of pace and ‘feel’ of the show.  If I may be blunt, some of the dancers looked bored.

Tim Sagar was at the helm as Musical Director.  I loved the band.  I thought that they were fresh and well-rehearsed.  I particularly liked the use of the saxophone, drums and electric guitar!  Well done!

The technical aspects to this production were very good, particularly the lights.  Whoever did the lighting design deserves a special mention!  I loved the use of colours and beams that were used to create location and establish feeling.  A special mention has to go to the costume, wigs and make up department who have worked well to help created the overall traditional feel.  I loved the use of various wigs that Polly and Petunia wore, although I didn’t particularly like the styling for Petunia.  I felt it was a little too Trans and not enough Dame.  Again, this is just my personal feeling and in no way distracted from the performance.

Abi Mitchell played the part of Snow White.  Abi looked the part and was well cast.  I felt that Abi was a little under used but she did very well in the scenes that she was in.  Abi also sang really well and had a lovely tone to her voice.

Lucy Newton was the star of the show for me as Queen Tatiana.  She had the right amount of sass, sophistication and evilness for this role.  Lucy had the audience booing in all of the right places (and more) and we all loved her performance!  Lucy had a good physicality for the role and used her costume to accentuate her character.  Well Done!

Andrew Brown played the role of King Barry.  Although a smaller role than I would’ve liked, Andrew did well to portray the buffoon King.  I liked the character choices and Andrew had great projection and pace.

Dan Carter played the role of Muddles.  Dan was one of the more-stronger actors onstage who interacted with the audience a lot.  Dan had a great rapport with the audience – something which can be hard to achieve but Dan was well cast in this role.  I would’ve preferred a little faster pace and quicker asides but that’s more of a directional choice.

Danny Gilman played the role of Willie Eckerslike.  I liked some of the character choices that Danny brought to this role.  It was very much underplayed and dry which was a good contrast to Dame Plop and Petunia Plop.

Linda Davenport played Fairy Foo Foo – the slighter more mature Fairy!  Because the Fairy was more of the narrator role, I felt that Linda was a little too slow in delivery.  She had great diction and articulation, but I personally would’ve preferred a little more pace and storytelling.

Dame Plop was played by Chris Mann.  I must say, I was very underwhelmed with Chris’ performance and delivery of the jokes.  For me, the Dame was far too naturalistic and laid back.  I would’ve preferred more farce, slapstick, energy and pace.  I love it when Dame’s ad lib and play around with each individual audience, but this was lacking in this performance.  The audience certainly enjoyed Chris’ performance, so maybe I’m being overly critical?

Rob Tagell played the roll of Petunia Plop.  Similarly with Chris, Rob played this in a naturalistic way which didn’t quite work for me.  I would’ve preferred a more energetic and farcical performance.  I didn’t like Rob’s costume choices, which made his character seem more like a transgender character rather than that of a Dame.  Despite all of this, Rob was very funny, and I really liked his dry wit and audience interaction.  I thought he was far stronger than the Dame!  I would love to see Rob in the role of the Dame in future Pantomimes!

Ryan Williamson played the role of the Prince.  A small role that was a little underused, Ryan did well.  I personally would’ve preferred a little more tradition with slapping of thighs etc but this didn’t distract from Ryan’s performance.

Louise Stones was the voice of the Mirror that was used as a pre-recording.  I really liked this idea and it was well used throughout.

Sandra Copstick was the shark in the baby shark song!  Cute, cuddly and funny – all the things that a shark isn’t supposed to be, but I loved Sandra and she brought a good energy and commitment to this section of the pantomime!

I also really enjoyed the performances from the seven dwarfs.  The use of the costume to make them dwarfs was brilliant and visually very good too!  I loved it every time they came on stage and I loved the fact that they all had their own individual characters too – well done!

Overall, this pantomime was very funny.  The audience loved it.  There was a man sitting behind me that laughed out loud at every joke and he appreciated every nuance that was onstage.  Personally, although I liked the show overall, I felt that the lack of pace really let the panto down.  For example, by having the characters sing the full versions of their songs meant that a lot of pace that was established during the scenes and the action, was lost due to the length of the songs.  It may be prudent to sing a verse and a chorus or have more upbeat numbers to inject energy?  A faster pace to the action would also give the quick fire jokes more gravitas in allowing them to be heard with more aplomb. 

I congratulate Congleton Pantomime on their 40th Anniversary and I wish them all the very best for next years’ show! (Oh yes I do)!

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