SNOW WHITE AND THE SIX AND A HALF DWARVES

This, a  first panto for CODS, was written and directed by one of their members.  The story was a clever mix of Snow White and Cinderella and from the moment it began, with Buttons jumping onto the stage,  the audience was totally engaged in and entertained by an extremely funny script.  The direction was nice and speedy  with no drop in pace or energy from the actors.  There were none of those moments of "empty stage".    A lot of thought must have gone into planning the scenery because, despite the restrictions of space, scene changes were slick.

 CODS has experienced actors who work together well and this was a strong cast.  Whether playing a good character, a baddie, or an "off the wall" Dwarf, all were played with conviction and an energy that drew the audience into the story.   It was good to see two young actors playing  Snow White and Prince Charming.  As sometimes happens there needed to be changes  of cast at the eleventh hour.  The actor playing the mirror took the role late in the rehearsal period and the director's  wife  stood in at the last moment,  making  her stage debut as a Dwarf.  In both cases they fitted their roles so well the audience would not have known.  There was a lovely contrast between the narrator who was  elegant and polite with the total mayhem that was the Dwarves.  Again there was  contrast between the six Dwarves, all dainty ladies, and the half Dwarf, a tall well built man, which made it very funny.  Costumes were  excellent.  Zany, beautiful or stunning, they were just right.

The panto was staged in their rehearsal rooms so they worked without any wings.  Entrances were via the 'auditorium' door.  The set was designed and made in such a way that it could rotate to show each of the scenes, as there was nowhere for additional scenery to be stored.  Despite these restrictions all the magic was there including dramatic lighting and sound effects for the Evil Queen,  and magic smoke that appeared when she was was mixing the potion.  Teamwork is at the core of a good production and every aspect of this panto was planned, organised and made by members of the society.  They used the limited facilities to the optimum and produced a wonderful evening's entertainment for the capacity audience.

It could be imagined that staging a panto in such restricted surroundings would be impossible.  CODS made it work superbly.  

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