Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

The thing that always amazes me about Catworth is their ingenuity in what they are able to do with what is easily the smallest stage and backstage facilities we visit in the district. And this year’s offering directed by Jayne Kaye was no different.  Comparing them to other societies with far more resources would be unfair; however what they manage to achieve is remarkable and deserves much credit to all involved.

The story was basically the traditional one of the wicked Queen consulting her enchanted mirror who continually appeals to her vanity and tells her she is the most beautiful in the land. Then on Snow White’s eighteenth birthday the mirror tells the Queen she has been usurped and, not being too happy with this news; vows to kill Snow White with a poisoned apple.

The set by Mike Brazel and Paul Goodyer was a striking set of painted cloths, some of which were cleverly recycled from previous pantomimes. Permanently set stage left was a castle and to stage right a fireplace depicting the inside of the cottage which were stretched cloths over a frame. The rear wall started off as a stretched canvas woodland scene and with some clever use of block and tackle by Justine Hughes and Paul Murphy, it was very slickly changed by lifting another cloth in front of it, such as a village scene. For the inside of the diamond mine the back wall lit up with fairy lights which had been set into the woodland backcloth. Thus, scene changes were seamless and very quick. Impressive!

Lighting by Mike Brazel, complemented the set and cued perfectly, although we did have an amusing few moments in a scene towards the end where there was a cauldron centre stage, eerily lit with blue, green and red lighting but involving some smoke effects, which then set the fire alarm off. It was soon turned off, but it should be noted that not a single member of the audience took notice of the safety instructions given before the show to head for the exits!

Sound by Clara Chaney was crystal clear and with a small village hall there was no need for stage mics and CATS members know how to project. Music was by CATS stalwarts the excellent Viad Sljapic, and Steve Kaye - based in the front row with a selection of guitars. And the cleverly chosen sequenced opening music was Tchaikovsky’s Dance of The Sugar Plumb Fairy.

Costumes by Cath Goodyer were outstanding, especially for the Mirror dressed in a large silver cloak with the most amazing Gothic style headpiece made by Julie Daniel.  Snow White looked perfectly traditional in her Red Cloak, Wicked Queen Secretia suitably attired in mainly black, Nurse Nora Virus in her colourful  OTT outfit and the dwarfs looking every bit like a ragtag of miners!

The acting was great fun and the audience loved it, from a happy smiling Rachel McCreath as an excellent demure Snow White, although perhaps nearer to 21 than 18, to Elizabeth Murphy as the Wicked Queen Secretia eliciting boos and jeers at every available opportunity. Paul Goodyer with an infectious commanding smile spread the wings of his silver cloak to wind the queen up with the bad news. 

Scott Millington put on the perfect dour, gormless face to play the  dim-witted Muddles and Chris Chaney played the Dame, Nurse Nora Virus to the full.

Our hero and principal Boy was Julie Daniel as Prince William of Wellingborough, a great foil to the dastardly Queen.

But my favourite characters have to be the seven Dwarfs, a wonderfully dressed bunch who all looked and played the part of miners to a tee. We had Pippa Elison as Pop, Sarah Postins as Snoozy,  Bob Postins as Lurgy, John Martin as Farty (and oh yes he did, lots!), Duncan Outram as Grouchy, Dick Martin as Smiley and Peter Millington as Ian/Ghost, the youngest Dwarf  who until the very last scene only spoke a single word, then  to much merriment surprising us all with an extensive opinion. Loved them!

This was great fun, and excellent entertainment lapped up by the full house and particularly by the younger members of the audience.

It would be remis of me not to mention the excellent and very funny programme with the cast CV’s putting down every  cast member with  some wonderfully cutting comments such as ‘A difficult person to forget but well worth it if you can,’ or ‘Scott has a lot of hidden talents but unfortunately none of us can find them,’ to quote but two. Well worth the ticket price just to read the programme!

So well done to Director Jayne Kaye, her cast and crew, this was grass roots theatre at its most entertaining!

Finally thank to the FOH team for their excellent hospitality.

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.