SNOW WHITE

My Final panto in this year’s ‘round’ was SNOW WHITE; by C.A.D.S in the lovely Rothbury Memorial Hall, written and directed by the amazingly talented John Mawer with music by ‘One man band’ Stella Deckers Coulter. Last in the calendar but certainly not ‘least’ in the memory.

What a multi-talented bunch this group is. A director who not only writes the piece exceptionally and extremely wittily, but also takes a full part (or parts!) and gets to be covered in custard pie, water gun spray and is beaten about the stage with greenery, whilst puppeteering Snow White’s progress through the forest…. who else???. Musically, I counted about six instruments played by Stella; what a talent. Well done production team !.

This talented cast of 27 actors, singers and dancers, treated its audience to a colourful, well directed and extremely entertaining theatre experience; given the lack of theatrical facilities. Under the challenging circumstances a village hall presents, they should be heartily congratulated for their efforts and ingenuity.

The action of the piece - which zipped along - was interspersed by some comical musical interruptions by the lovely ‘backing singers’, who came on and punctuated the story at various moments of importance with some well-known tunes with suitably adapted lyrics. Such good fun !.

The main principals were excellent, with stand-out characterisations from Queen Eve-ill – Kirsty Mawer (definitely an Oscar), Privy Councillor – Mike Jevons, and Snow White – Amy Cowan. More than ably supported by Fran Elson – Bishop, Jo Gardiner – Good Queen, Robert Famelton – King White, Sue Wood – Mirror Reflection and Betsy Burston as Young Snow White. A pack of lovely animals including a unicorn who pooped cup-cakes (Alfie Middleton), a tabby cat with great cat-like gestures (Miranda Moss), a dog with an itchy bum (Victoria Richardson), a ‘renewable’ hamster (Louie Mawer) and a very ‘cool’ squirrel (Amelie Middleton). Well done !. Their fur costumes and makeup were also tremendous. The rest of the cast of Mermaids, Miners, Moles and Townsfolk – far too numerous to mention, were also fabulous with some taking on several roles (including our multi-tasking Director). I particularly admire this group’s developmental attitude to young people. The future is obviously safe in their capable hands.

The production was suitably enhanced by the technical team, with some nice lighting and sound effects, colourful scenery and props, great costumes and makeup, making this production a sure-fired success. All backed up by a first-class front of house crew containing some old friends from my past. Lovely to catch up Ann, David and Jane.

This was definitely a team effort, as Chairman Robert said in the programme and his closing speech after the final curtain. With over sixty people involved in some way, making this a wonderfully entertaining show. My congratulations to everyone and apologies to those not mentioned by name; your contributions were superb.

Finally, thanks for the invitation and hospitality. I look forward to my next visit.

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