“SNOW WHITE GOES DATING” & “BO PEEP GETS SHUT IN”

For a small venue with very basic facilities, I was impressed with the standard of performance and the clever writing of the two adult pantomime tales.

This was my first visit to Five Pound Theatre, and one which I enjoyed very much.  The two plays were a different take on the pantomime stories, with lots of humour, some nods to tradition with good acting and costumes.

The basic set accomplished a background for the action, and being a small venue we could hear every word that was said.  The Conservative Club was interesting, in that the event room could not be cordoned off, so we had background noise, but this did not detract from the performers, and well done to them for carrying on regardless, even through a fire bell which threatened to drown them out….but did not succeed.  It was a shame we could not have had less light on the sides of the room, and more on the actors, but again I am sure there must have been a reason for it, not least being health and safety for those wishing to visit the facilities!!

Costumes were good – particularly the Dame’s and Lupina’s, very striking, with the other costumes blending well.  Good to see that this side of the production had been taken into account, despite the minimalistic set and setting.

In Bo Peep played by Lois Wright, we had a very full-on character, with plenty of amusing lines well-delivered, and Dame Fleece a great part completely nailed down by Mark Loughran.  I must admit the quality of the performances throughout belied the setting.

Tara Pathirana was the wicked Lupina, a good part to get her teeth into which she did in abundance, with Jonathan Goodson as her henchman Hackles, again a good pairing.

The introduction of Malexa, played with a wry forcefulness by Alison Bayliss-Hardy, was great fun answering the questions for everyone, and I liked that she signified the end of a scene with her tambourine, very inventive, and of course no blackouts or gaps, so everything ran seamlessly.

As a one acter, I enjoyed Bo Peep more than Snow White.

I felt Snow White wasn’t as funny, and didn’t flow quite as well as Bo Peep, but that said the actors all performed well.  I think because in this particular venue they were all sitting on chairs we couldn’t see them very well, so it lost a bit of impact, maybe think about this for the future if performing on a flat floor without raised seating.

Tara Pathirana was an excellent Snow White, with Laura Loughran (who I understand took over the part at very short notice, so very well done for getting the lines down) as Princess Nasty delivering her lines with plenty of intent, and Dee Denehan as Princess Nice, living up to her name by being quite shy, but succinct, and all giving us very different characterisations.

The stand out part for me was the Frog, played by Lois Wright – she didn’t have much to say but she was very feisty and made the most of her lines.

Overall I enjoyed the evening very much – the plays were well-written with plenty of comedy which the cast obviously brought to the fore, and although the setting was basic the costumes and acting made this a production well worth seeing, and I hope the audience felt their £5 had been well-spent.

Nova Horley

NODA Representative - NODA East District 3

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