Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

After not performing a pantomime last year, Golborne St Thomas Amateur Dramatic & Operatic Society made a welcome return with their pantomime: ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. Directed by Bethan Littlewood, this was a real community show. It’s lovely to see people of all ages taking part and working together to bring a production to life. The projection from the cast was, on the whole, very good. The stage space was utilised well with scenes taking place in front of the tabs to cover a scene change. The scene changes were efficiently done and backcloths were used for different locations, with added furniture. The magic mirror was cleverly done, and the ending of Act One was imaginatively done, with a star cloth and a large version of the fairy tale book cover where the different characters could emerge from. Entrances and exits were well thought of, with the Dwarfs entering through the central aisle of the auditorium. There were a couple of slow entrances, but these were few and far between. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments, in particular the scene in the forest with Muddles, Dame Clara Cookie and Otto and Bernando. The costumes were good and suited each character, especially the many costumes for Dame Clara Cookie.

Bethan Littlewood was also the choreographer for this production. The choreography was simple, but effective, especially on the small stage. The cast performed the dances well.

Technical elements were well though through in the production. The sound balance was good on the whole. The cast did well performing with the backing tracks and projected well. Suranne had a microphone for her songs, which helped carry her voice. The lighting was good throughout.

Taking on the title role of Snow White was Suranne Hesketh. This was a good performance from Suranne, who looked totally at ease on stage. She had a pleasing vocal that she was able to display throughout the production. Well done.

Playing opposite Suranne was Ruby Glavin as the principal boy, Prince Alexander. Ruby did well with her performance and matched up with Suranne well. She looked confident in the role and sang well.

As well as directing and choreographing, Bethan Littlewood had the time to play the pantomime villain, Queen Malevolent. Bethan was great in this role and was suitably evil. Bethan had a great stage presence, commanding the stage whenever she was on it. A great portrayal.

Keith Wilde put in a very good performance as Dame Clara Cookie. He had great stage presence and was very good in the scenes. His adlibs and one liners were very good, and he had the audience in the palm of his hands. The pace was lost in some of the unscripted moments when scene changes were taking place. Nonetheless, this was an accomplished performance.

Jessica Payne played the comic role, Muddles, in this year’s pantomime. Jessica has a fantastic stage presence and worked well with the cast, especially the ensemble where she led the numbers. Her sense of comedy was very good and Jessica gave a pleasing performance.

Emma Rothwell and Bernard Holding were a great double act as the comedy duo of Otto and Bernando. They worked well together and bounced off each other well.

Sue Halton did well as Lord Chamberlain. Although perhaps not as secure in her lines, she used Sarah Greely (prompt) to great comic effect. Her duet with Keith was very funny.

Kerrick Mills played both Hugo and the Magic Mirror. Kerrick was able to play both of these parts confidently.

The seven dwarfs stole the show. They were cheeky, confident and knew what they were doing. A big well done to Isabelle Lloyd, Roxanne Rothwell, Nathan Whitty, Aaron Whitty, Colette Cotter, Melodie Prescott and Nancy Prescott.

The chorus were well drilled with what they were doing, and it’s pleasing to see a contingent of young performers on stage, enjoying what they are doing. Keep it up!

Overall, this was a pleasing production. It is great to see a range of ages on stage, all having a great time. The audience definitely enjoyed the production, so well done to everyone involved.

A big thank you to everyone at Golborne STADOS for their kind invite and hospitality.

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