Snow White & The Seven Trolls

Stage Squad youth are back once more …this time with a pantomime rendering of the much-cherished tale of Snow White.

A sticky area that many companies have faced with this title over recent years has been the issue surrounding the septet of dwarfs which feature quite heavily in the tale. This year, the London Palladium pantomime simply shortened the title to ‘Snow White’ which avoids any focus on what’s now become a sensitive topic surrounding the pantomime. I read an article during panto season last year (written by a dwarf who appears in professional panto every season) which mentioned how he’s insulted when children are cast as the dwarfs. Personally, I can’t help but feel that his comment centres more around missing out on paid work as opposed to genuinely feeling insulted – I mean, just think about it, in this craft is it really so ludicrous for someone to portray a person that they are not!? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sensitive to people’s feelings, I’m not a monster despite what you may hear, but when is a line going to be drawn with such themes? It’s highly unlikely that the actress playing Snow White has royal blood but do Beatrice and Eugenie have an issue with that? …or is it only a matter of time? Soon we’re not going to be able to say anything without offending someone and sadly, we’re not far off finding ourselves in that scenario. Anyhow… I digress before I’ve even begun… my point here is that the creator of this in-house adaptation, Sean Kennedy, seems to have addressed the issue by amending the story, and its title, to feature seven trolls rather than dwarfs, seeming to make the potential issue not an issue at all by completely modifying it, but no doubt this would still irritate someone somewhere! It’s one of those areas where you just cannot please everyone as there are such strong feelings surrounding it!

This script by Sean was packed with a plethora of digressions and skits which helped to expand the number of speaking roles which was an ideal result for such a large cast. As a result, the pivotal narrative ended up secondary, but this is not uncommon with many pantomime scripts. The idea of the reappearing health and safety inspectors who keep an eye on the production to ensure it meets with pantomime standards was my favourite inclusion away from the central plot!

Charlie Vjestica battled with an ungainly yet comical costume as the vanity unit aka. Le Mirror. Some of his phrases were missed as Charlie’s own accent underneath the French accent required meant it wasn’t always easy to decipher what was being spoken, however, just watching him was hilarious. Charlie certainly demonstrated a commanding persona on stage and (costume aside) appeared at ease throughout his performance, a natural knack for performing which was exciting to behold.

Josh Ball was a bundle of energy as Cuban Pete, lighting up the stage with each of his scenes.

Staging a full-scale production at Squad House is no easy accomplishment, particularly with such a large cast. The mechanics of the production were factored to enable the show to flow with some clever thinking and a minimalistic design. Expertly accomplished.

Grace Alston was another dominant performance as the Evil Queen, relishing those intense glares and knocking out some big notes during her number when casting her spell, most enjoyable.

The ensemble of Trolls, each with their own character trait based on the 2016 movie were inspired! Their appearance radiated joy and it was their sequences and company numbers which ignited the production.

The choreography and musical numbers were evidently a lot of fun and the cast appeared to enjoy executing the sequences which is always beneficial, adding a spark to the overall presentation.

Comedy is always at the forefront of Sean’s scripts and this is fundamental in pantomime and (surprisingly) a factor which is so often lost or forgotten, thankfully it’s an area that Sean appreciates and is passionate about! Whether or not every gag landed as well as it could have done is unconnected, I valued the inspiration and thought behind them.

Whether playing a passing cloud, a news reporter, the Prince or the pastey Princess herself, each individual cast member was committed to delivering the best of their ability which is all anyone can ask, the passion and enthusiasm on display from the youth troupe at Stage Squad is remarkable, they’re well neutered and evidently each one of them is made to feel so valuable to the entire production which is hugely commendable and will entice them to return and practise their craft of which they’re evidently passionate.

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