Snow White

It only seems right to start this review by saying how lovely it is to see a theatre group give so many youngsters a real chance. The fact that the vast majority of your cast were young was impressive on its own, but if you then take into account that you had two separate casts, it’s even more so. However, if that wasn’t enough of a challenge for you, just to make it harder only 5 members of the cast were the same in each set! I’ve seen productions where the dwarfs may have been altered on different nights and some dancers but you guys even alternated members of the main cast including Snow White; Prince Rupert; The Evil Queen and Wot (The Comedy Sidekick). The very logistics of this must have been immense to arrange and I really do take my hat off to you all for attempting such a mammoth task and congratulations to Lynn Lee Brown and Tammie Lloyd for bringing it all together. Also well done to Linda Bowler and her team of chaperones who must have been incredibly busy with so many children to look after, a role that doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves.

Although the Westfield Academy Theatre is a lovely little venue it’s layout and dynamics must have caused a few headaches for the production, so making the staging uncomplicated was a good way to deal with the lack of curtains, both main and tabs.  The simple, effective staging didn’t upstage the main cast and the ‘Queen’s Mirror Room’ and ‘The Hunt Hostelry Garden’ were particularly good. Although the staging was simple, some of the scene changes did take a little long though.

Sound and lighting were looked after by Northern Light Productions, this company has looked after many shows in District 8 recently, with differing levels of success. On this occasion the sound quality was okay, although there were a few issues. However, the lighting was a little off, most notably in the second half when spotlights were actually illuminating the stage to the side of the actor/s and one scene where the lights seemed to be behind the cast, leaving faces lost into silhouettes. Overall the lighting and sound were not too bad, but it was very distracting that the sound/lighting engineer kept getting up from his desk and walking to the back stage area. This happened about four times and was particularly annoying because his desk was positioned right in the centre of the audience!

The costumes by Joyce Harland, Lynn Lee Brown and from Bath Theatrical were mostly good and it was nice to see a running theme throughout the cast. Especially good were The Wishing Well Fairy; Snow White; Wizard Blackheart and The Gnomes. Although Mrs Murgatroyd’s costume were okay, it would have been nice to have seen a few more of them. Also a better selection and quality of wigs would have greatly improved ‘her’ look. Make up by Lynne Brown and her team was good, especially The Wishing Well Fairy’s which looked stunning.

There were many songs in this production and the opening number “Life’s a Happy Song” was really lively and started the pantomime off on a real high note. Many of the songs were a little slow, therefore it was a welcome change of pace when some of the more upbeat ones appeared, most notable was ‘Lily the Pink’, although this song was one of the areas that were affected by the sound issues and it was hard to hear some of the singing. Colin Francis as Wizard Blackheart gave a rendition of ‘Dem Bones’, which although seemed unconnected and out of the blue for the story was fun and entertaining to watch.  In eager preparation for your Disney trip, it was also nice to see several Disney songs in the production from Toy Story; Frozen; Princess and the Frog; Rapunzel and of course Snow White. The community song seemed a bit of a wasted opportunity and there could have been so much more made of it, in the end it was over far too quickly which then left Wot and Lester looking awkward and uncomfortable trying to fill time. However massive congratulations to you for the scene at 'The Gnomes’ Cottage and the song ‘Run’ which was sung absolutely beautifully and was really well presented, there could not have been one dry eye in the house!  The singing itself was mostly good and, apart from ‘Lily the Pink’ and a couple of the singers in ‘Life’s a Happy Song’, were performed at a good clear volume. ‘Love is an Open Door’ and ‘Somewhere Out There’ were lovely duets performed by Izzy MacGregor and Lydia Cross as Snow White and Prince Rupert. Unfortunately, a few of the songs seemed to be at a pitch that the performers were struggling with, which was a shame and it was obvious that they were having difficulties.

The choreography by Kirsty Beaumont was minimal but what there was, was simple yet effective and worked well within the story. All the dancers and chorus members seemed to be enjoying themselves and there seemed to be a good ethos of teamwork in the cast.

The script by Doreen Moger made a good attempt at telling the Snow White story, whilst having additional characters that would not normally be there ‘The Wishing Well Fairy’ and ‘Wizard Blackheart’ spring to mind. Although the story was good, it was lacking a little in the comedy stakes and some scenes seemed to just abruptly end in an unusual way and place. The cooking slapstick scene was also over a little too quick and didn’t really capitalise on the comedy situation as much as it could have.

It is really important to remember that a vast majority of your cast were youngsters and with that in mind, they did a very good job of performing and getting the most out of the script despite an obvious lack of experience. Some of the actors struggled with communicating with the audience, but massive congratulations to Harry Stallard who did a great job of playing Mrs Murgatroyd and he had a few good moments of interaction with the audience. With a bit more experience he has the potential to become a great dame (and not a Great Dane, which is something very different). Izzy MacGregor was also a pleasure to watch as Snow White and had a lovely singing voice, which balanced well in the duets with Lydia Cross as Prince Rupert. Doreen MacGregor tried very hard to get the audience going as Queen Eldread and her sidekick Colin Francis was a real delight as Wizard Blackheart and easily the best portrayal of the night. Marc Batterbury also shone in his small role as Grant and his flip from Snow White’s friend to foe was very funny. 

As always in these productions, the children playing the gnomes were amazing and each of them really embodied the characters they were playing. All of them showed that Castaway’s has a great future, so well done to Angelique; Scarlett; Atiya; Charlotte; Martha; Eva and Mia. However, one thing I was always told about performing, whether it is in a panto or not, is never leave character. Everyone forgets their lines at some point, even professionals, and by staying in character the audience may never know. I only mention this because it was a very awkward moment when at one point, when there was a gap in the proceedings, a member of the cast broke character and stood with his hands over his face saying “I don’t know where we are”, “I don’t know what to do” and, unfortunately, it did seem to shake the younger performers around him.

Obviously I only had the opportunity to watch Team White and unfortunately can’t comment on Team Snow but overall it was nice to see that the audience really seemed to enjoy themselves. On a personal note I would like to congratulate Team White for their amazing professionalism on Saturday night, dealing with a very difficult situation in a very mature way and I know all at Noda send their best to Brian.

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