Sword in the Stone

Thank you Upchurch for letting me sit in on one of your pre-opening night reahersals. I was going on holiday the following day and would have missed your opening night...but all was not lost. My friend Elizabeth sent me her thoughts as she came to the matinee on Saturday.

Adam James and Kay Wright as Director and MD worked well together and gave us a rather long Sword in the Stone. But enjoyable it was, even though the second act (when I saw it) needed work. It was there, but many of the cast needed to get lines learnt and in the right order. I agree with what Elizabeth says below wholeheartedly. The strongest performers were Morgan and the Lady of the lake. Morgan had great stage presence as the ‘baddie’ with the right amount of sass and comedy. Supported by Adam James who was just as villainous and had the perfect panto voice. Suzanne Lake, Lady of the Lake, had a cracking voice and was by far the stand out singer in my opinion, proven in “Get this party started” - very Shirley Bassey. Emilie Weller also had a noticeably beautiful voice, in “Oh what a (k)night” - perfect for the role of Tauriel.

 Kay Wright had chosen some pleasant songs and directed them well. John Russell playing, Jingles the Jester, was also good in playing some of the comedic innuendos and tongue twisters, but loved by a lot of the children watching too. Everyone in the cast seemed to be having fun, even on the night I came and I'm sure this lasted to the opening night. Some good costumes - with so many people to dress!! Praise to Alison Lewin and her team. Simple movement by Franchesca Butcher worked well on the small stage. It's great to see a newly written Panto and Adam James you must have panto in your blood and, along with your cast, you should be very proud of what you achieved in this Sword in the Stone - the pantomime, that resembled Spamalot maybe? Anything bad would just be stuff like not everyone’s mics were always on, which was fine if you were at the front. But noticeable when someone else with a mic on spoke or sung. The programme was very informative, I was greeted fondly, two cups of tea..a nice evening I had too.

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