Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

How quickly it had come round again, that annual blurring of the lines between professional and amateur theatre that is the Dereham Theatre Company annual family pantomime. Last year’s Robinson Crusoe and the Pirates had elevated this traditional British art form to a new level and to follow it was always going to be tough. I was, however extremely optimistic as I took my seat once again to deputise for the legendary Sue Dupont.

I have to say from the onset that with last year’s script being one of the funniest I have ever had the pleasure to witness, this adaptation of the evergreen fairy tale was not of the same calibre. Having said that, Alan Frayn’s penmanship was far from Grimm and there were plenty of laughs to be had by all. I will not insult you by even wasting a single word explaining the story, suffice to say that this version was true to all those that had gone before. The scenery was excellent, and costumes, make up and lighting all of the highest standard. The dancers were in the very best form under the delightful choreography of Amy Futers and there was plenty to applaud in both the children’s chorus and main adult chorus. Of the supporting cast, I enjoyed Nathan Harrod as Merlin of the Magic Mirror and Heather Neave as Fairy Good Fortune, the latter making good use of her many pyrotechnic entrances.

This script contained a lot of characters with many of them being involved in the comedy, so there were a lot of contenders for the title of comic lead. One who should certainly be considered was the excellent Nick Bird as sidekick Scribbles who had less to do than last year but did it brilliantly, being only slightly upstaged by Doug Hartley as the toilet cleaner Slurp who had to distil all his comedy from his characterisation, which was excellent from start to finish. The actual comic lead was probably Chuckles played by Gareth Evans who had played Dame on my last two visits. He had most of the scripted gags and although solid enough I left the theatre wondering if his delivery had got the most from his material. The actual Dame of this occasion was society newcomer, Paul Allum, who took the part of Edna Bucket and produced a brilliant characterisation and a scarily accurate Tess Daly impression that I could not decide was by accident or design.

Of the more prominent parts there was a good showing from Francesca Read as Prince Ferdinand and demure Ellie Buckingham was perfect as beautiful Snow White with a lovely singing voice to match her delicate but determined characterisation. The villain of this particular piece was Queen Avarice and she was beautifully played by Chrissie Robertson who managed to solicit the appropriate response to her every word and action.

Before I had taken my seat I had been primed to watch out for certain amongst the dwarfs but to be completely honest they were all excellent and complimented each other perfectly with universally strong and confident perfomances so I congratulate them en block as Katrina Porter (Brainy); Rebekah Hartley (Smiley); Ellie Read (Dozy); Mathew Hartley (Grumbly); Daisy Brook (Blushful); Harriet Fenby (Snoozy) and Lauren Matwij (Sniffle).

I save my penultimate paragraph for another Dereham newcomer who simply took my breath away with a master class in character acting. The part of Justice Quill (legal advisor to the Queen) could so easily have been a supporting cast part, but in the hands of Jen Alexander it became one of the central perfomances of this production. I don’t think I have ever seen so much acting take place in a pantomime before and it was a joy to watch.

My compliments to Director, Jill Jarman for another wonderful pantomime and to Musical Director, Ian Futers for making it all go with a swing. This year’s offering has once again been the benchmark by which amateur pantomime will be judged.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.