Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

In true pantomime fashion we were introduced to the good and evil who bring light and shade to the story. Wonder Wing (Lynn Gray) and Fairy Good Heart (Lauren Bennett) are the good conscience and a helpful wand to dilute and stop the forces from drifting to the dark side. Both give a great performance. Wicked Queen Grimelza (Fiona Drewery) and grovelling Black Wing (Carrick Henderson), her feathery servant, are the perfect duo.  Scary enough to incite boos and hisses from the audience as they comfortably inhabited their role throughout. When Queen Grimelza realised her plan was foiled to kill Snow White in Act 2 she gave a very convincing rendition of ‘Love Doesn’t Stand a Chance’.   The opening scene introduced us to the lovely Snow White: A role perfectly suited to the talented young Grace Henderson. The lively and colourful ‘Hand Jive’ gave the young cast a chance to show their movement skills and featured the larger than life Danny Dumpling (Finna Hardy).Top marks for her characterisation. A touching ‘Reflection’ from Snow White preceded the secret birthday celebration also featuring Dolly Dumpling (Kevin Purvis) and Prince Frederick (Hannah Tucker). It was easily seen that both their contributions to the big number ‘Celebrate’ was an indication of their importance within the cast and throughout the show. Dolly sounded like she had a  slight cold that night but she soldiered on regardless and drew her audience on board at every opportunity, wowing us with ever more colourful outfits. Well done to the Fairy leader and woodland characters for a charming, atmospheric dance scene in Act 1. Cute and definitely cuddly was Fang the Dog, who was superbly characterised by young Jaimie Meine. Top marks for his doggy make-up.Very worthy of their applause, on all accounts, were Stinkwart (DC) and Bogwart (Rachel Gray) alias Titch and Shorty.  A natural comic duo, who confidently delivered their duet “Couple of Swells’. A very dynamic group of youngsters were excellently cast as the dwarfs. Aisle Renton, Alexa McKenzie, Rhea Simpson, Erin Blaikie, Fin Birchall, Joseph McEwan and Orla Finnie superbly enthralled the audience as Cheerful, Grouchy, Sniffy, Top Dog, Snoozy, Disn’y and Dozy. In their enthusiastic introduction to Snow White, Top Dog led the ‘Welcome to the Forest’ number, in reminiscent Hairspray style, which was sung and danced with style and pazzazz. The Act 2 opening scene in the dwarfs cottage was highlighted by Snow White’s lovely, lyrical rendition of the Happy Working Song while encouraging the dwarfs homely tidy up. When disaster strikes in the shape of a poison apple, the Prince’s rescue makes Snow White realise she is ‘The Luckiest Girl in the World’. In the Finale, the popular Prince Frederick leads a happy cast in celebration that love will always find you. This was a fabulous example of a small group of youngsters and only a few adults who presented a wonderful team effort to light up the festive season. Well Done everyone.

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