Snow White and the Seven Blokes

We received a warm welcome from John Pettifor and the rest of the Front of House team. The Church Hall housed a full audience, despite the snow outside, in a very relaxed atmosphere, where the children and one or two adults, were encouraged to sit on the forestage beanbags. The open stage, managed efficiently by Phil Webb, displayed some nicely painted flats, by Nina Sage, which flipped over to change the scene’s. The proceedings were started with a humorous public announcement that lead straight into the opening number by Snow White herself, however her personal mic did sound a bit tinny and took a while to find the right level. Generally the sound by Harry Butson and Richard Ramsey was good, but could have been better balanced and perhaps could have benefited with a bit more work in the tech run. The “Orchestra” lead by Musical Director Ben Parnell with percussion by Frank Graver, did a great job, appropriately subtle and understated. David Turners props were very good, as was the makeup and costumes, especially the Mirror. The lighting was basic but adequate.

Harriet Millier as Snow White, gave a good singing and acting performance. Anne Pettifor as the Queen was very good indeed and sang beautifully in her solo. Mike Richards as the slimy character Sneer was also very good and received the required amount of boo’s from the audience. Vanessa Turner as the Mirror did a great job of carrying the story along and engaging with the audience. The Seven blokes were played with good comic timing by all five of them ( part of the plot) and had the audience chuckling with delight. Peter Sampson gave a solid performance as Inspector Broad, and Guy Turner was a very confident Huntsman.

The choreography by Kate Purser was simple and well performed by the cast, particularly the children, on such a small stage.

Anne Pettifor & Vanessa Turner’s direction was, considering the size of the stage, good, but the star of the show was the script. Richard Ramsey’s adaptation of the much loved traditional story was clever witty topical and extremely well crafted. This was a completely new Pantomime that managed to retain most of the elements of a traditional one.

My congratulations to Strictly Panto on another most enjoyable production.

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