Snow White A Pantomime

The story is well known… but just in case: Snow White has been raised by Aunt Gertie, after being found abandoned on her greengrocer’s shop doorstep. Neither of them knows Snow White’s true royal identity. However, when the jealous Queen Asphyxia discovers that Snow White is ‘the fairest of them all’ and not the Queen, she enlists the help of three villains to kidnap and dispose of her. Inevitably they fail and so the evil Queen pursues her, disguises herself and tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, putting her in a death-like sleep. She's eventually awakened by a prince's kiss, and they marry, defeating the Queen and living happily ever after, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

The story begins in the opening front cloth scene, where we meet the evil Queen Asphyxia splendidly played by Jude Sanderson, with great stage presence and voice to match, immediately enlisting the antagonism of the audience. In this Limelight Scripts version, there is no fairy, but instead a well- handled Magic Mirror (Pete Twiddy) that spoke in rhyme, which I thought worked really well. We meet Marsha Mallow  (Jess Crook) a village girl who led the first musical number ‘Perfect Day’ with the chorus. She and her boyfriend Jimmy Jester (Casey Benson) both had good presence and sang well, moving the fun along at a good pace.

The local green grocer Aunt Gertie, was played with great flamboyance and panto style by Ben Wilson, and some great timed corny jokes leading into ‘Take a Chance on Me’, sang with aplomb. Discovering that she is no longer the fairest of them all, the Queen enlists Slick, Sly and Shifty (Karen Evans, Emma Diamond and Millie Haywood), three ‘common sensibly’ challenged assistants, to go to Follywood, to find Snow White and kill her.

Snow White played by Claire Bryant fulfilled the role with ease and an endearing style and it was no surprise that on meeting Prince Sebastian, played well by Chris Kislak, they fell instantly in love and worked well together singing ‘Accidently in Love’.   ‘Bad Guys’ was another good number sung by Slick, Sly and Shifty and after claiming that Snow White was dead, contrary to what the Mirror tells the Queen, are taken to the dungeons.

Snow White escapes to a cottage in the wood where she eventually meets the seven dwarfs. They looked great; suitably dressed, sporting beards they all spoke up well. Chloe Yates ( Brainy), Libby Thompson (Smiler), Holli Beevers (Sniffy), Poppy Nions (Pops), Zara Skilleter (Snoozy), Ava Fuller (Dippy) and by no means least, Tim Wilson as Grouchy, made an excellent team. ‘Together Wherever We Go’ was a good closing number to Act 1.

Opening Act 2 Snow White and the dwarfs sang a very sweet number together ‘Count on Me’ and there was a very nice relationship between them all. Snow White is left alone in the cottage and is warned not to open the door to anyone. Despite pleading from the audience, she lets in a little old lady offering her a juicy apple, which of course she accepts, taking a bite and then collapses to the floor. The chorus sang ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ with some, not the last of the evening, very nice harmonies. Perhaps expecting the traditional ‘Ghost Scene’ when one by one, some principals disappear with fright, this version used a bear from the forest (Richard Spires) which made a nice change.

The Queen sang ‘Rotten to the Core’ with a great voice plus attitude and another great choice of song ‘Rule the World’ was sung by the dwarfs led by Brainy (Chloe), with harmony. The Mirror Man returned with  ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ with his strong voice and the final company number ‘Colour My World’ was quite uplifting.

The scenery was again well constructed and painted, the costumes a delight and the band of six players never intruded. Congratulation to director Chris Kislak and all involved in a great evening’s entertainment which the audience clearly enjoyed.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.