Snow White and the Out of Work Actors

‘Snow White and the Out of Work Actors’ is a modern revamp of the traditional classic pantomime, written by Gareth Alder and directed by Russell Alder and Sophie Campbell.   In this new pantomime, the usual seven people of diminutive size are replaced by a group of actors who are now out of work due to their theatre burning down. 

The story opened with an upbeat introduction to all the cast singing ‘Hello’ which finished with the curtain getting caught.  This was a fourth wall break as a crew member wearing a T-shirt saying ‘Crew’ came on stage to ‘fix’ the problem.  This was all a clever device and part of the show - a show within a show. 

Dame Ketchup, played by Chris Rozier, bantered with the audience introducing herself as a cleaner at the Red Lion Palace who is guardian to Snow White (Lucy Mosdell) nicknamed ‘Snowy’ because she suffers from terrible dandruff. 

Of course, Snow White has her evil stepmother the Wicked Queen (Jane Whitlock) accompanied by her vain magic mirror (Ben Chaves.) I liked the magic mirror effect with Ben wearing all black to blend into the background and his face framed by a sparkly diamante frame.  This mirror was far to preoccupied to answer the Queen as he was checking out his own reflection in a hand mirror.  

When the furious Queen is finally told the answer to her question that Snow White is the ‘fairest in the land’ she formulates an evil scheme to dispose of her.  She summons the crows lead by Crooked Crow (played by Dan Barrett in his best comedy villain role) accompanied by sidekicks Toyu (Alice Davey) and Tommee (Tadhg Davey.) The crows sing  ‘How Bad can I Be’ while the stage is lit with red lights to emphasis their evil nature. 

After eavesdropping on their evil plans, Dame Ketchup dispatches Snow White to Horncastle where she will be safe and, on the way, she comes across some delightful forest animals. 

Following a very slick scene change, we are transported into the home of the out of work actors. Before our eyes, panels seamlessly rolled into position creating a cartoonish Disney background of bright orange ‘wooden’ walls and a purple door.  On the wall is a huge, bright red button marked ‘Emergency Use Only’ and lots of graffiti surrounding warning not to push this button.  There are also names on the walls listing all the inhabitants. 

Back in the forest, Prince William (Dom Hinkins) is singing wistfully about his true love ‘Dream Come True.’ Could this be Snow White?  Dame Ketchup tells the prince that Snow White is the girl he has loved all his life and he hastens to Horncastle to find her. 

We finally meet the ‘out of work actors’ who are ‘fishing’ in front of a blue sheet used to create the illusion of a river, as they sing about not wanting to work but are much happier being on the stage all day.  When they get home to their surprise they find Snow White in their house plus a collection of woodland creatures. 

The Wicked Queen enchants an apple to poison Snow White and gives it to the crows to deliver, but the prince accidentally bites into the apple and falls into a deep sleep.  Will the Wicked Queen get her comeuppance, will Snow White ever be reunited with her true love and will anyone push the forbidden emergency button?

Lots of witty local references made this a local play for local people who would obviously got the references.  For example, Uber Eats not being in the Horncastle area and place names such as RAF Waddington.  The panto never took itself too seriously and this was its charm so if things did go wrong, they were styled out. This was particularly obvious when Dan Barrett, as the Crooked Crow, berated the audience for finally booing him, sarcastically observing that the audience had finally figured out 'who the bad guy was.' 

Lucy Mosdell was good as Snow White, and  I liked her solo and duet with the prince to Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story.’  Chris Crozier played Dame Ketchup in a laid-back style reminiscent of the late Frankie Howerd and his risqué lines ‘one for the grown ups’ were very funny. I also liked him coming into the audience but maybe next time have a few more sarcastic comments and put downs in-hand - an audience loves a good roasting!  

Ben Chaves was the camp magic mirror whose witty repartee was more than a match for the Wicked Queen and the Queen herself oozed wickedness in her contempt for Snow White.  Dan Barrett was very good as the cocky Crooked Crow sneering and taunting the audience – well done for keeping the act going despite a less than responsive audience.  Unfortunately, the joke in the style of Abbot and Costello’s classic ‘Who’s on first base?’ using Doctors was spoilt by the rudeness of the some of the younger audience members.

The concept of using stage crew coming out to fix problems was good and I liked the ‘duck tape’ joke and the homage to Laurel and Hardy classic with ‘you nod your head and I’ll hit it’ sketch. Well done also to the musical director, Chris Hinkins, who once provided keyboard accompaniment for some of the solos. 

Costumes were traditional panto with the Snow White and the Wicked Queen inspired by the Disney film.  The actors all wore matching waistcoats, and the dame wore an apron with an appliqued ketchup bottle on it over her dress but then glammed herself up at the finale in a red sequinned frock and blonde wig. Crooked Crow wore a long swirly cape and top hat and the sidekicks wore black furry hats. 

Special mention to George Struthers who played the sweetest grey squirrel. He was always in character acting all the time and displayed some fantastic dance moves.  He also delivered his lines with perfect timing.  Well done, I hope to see you in future productions.

I was delighted to meet directors Sophie and Russell after the show and also Gareth Alder, writer and stage manager who took me behind the scenes to view some of the back-stage magic including that amazing cottage transformation. 

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