The Frog Prince

As soon as we entered the village hall, we knew we were in for a very entertaining evening. There was a buzz of excitement from the audience members already seated and from those arriving. Cheerful music tinkled in the background as we were treated to a video projection showing a time lapsed presentation of the dedicated team painting the scenery and constructing the set. In addition to this, numerous frog characters were projected above the proscenium arch – great fun for the children (and grown-ups) to spot and count. I managed to tally up seventeen before the lights dimmed and Fairy Dewdrop appeared with her puppet friend, Janet the Squirrel, to deliver the audience announcements. This was a lovely idea and flowed seamlessly into the Fairy’s opening prologue, illustrated with more projections.

The role of Fairy Dewdrop was taken by Verity-Belle Purdy, a young actor who was simply fabulous. Her speaking voice was crisp and clear with a measured pace and controlled breathing. I really enjoyed her interactions with the forest animals and her deadpan delivery was excellent. As her prologue drew to a close and magical lights darted across the gauze, the lights lifted to reveal Little Twinge town square in the Kingdom of Aching and the audience were introduced to the townsfolk and local shopkeepers.

There was Miss Belcher, the cheerful, gossipy shoe shop owner, played by Rosie Russell; there was Mr Bragg, the sharp and fussy hat shop owner, played by Jack Pasby; and there was Mrs Rummage, the jolly and carefree sweet shop owner, played by Alice Foot. Each one of these youth performers were very talented and had enviable stage presence for their age. They had evidently spent time developing their characters and their voice projection was strong.

Last, but definitely not least, of the shopkeepers was Dotty Trotter, owner of greasy-spoon café, Dot’s Diner. This role was played by Marc Skinner, and it was lovely to see the tradition of a man in the dame’s role being upheld. From the moment Marc tottered on to the stage in his over-sized high heels, he was clearly a big hit with the audience and his characterisation was suitably loud-mouthed and outrageous. Occasionally, his lines were missed or a little jumbled, but he was clearly having a blast, and his joy was infectious.

Working for Dotty in the diner were her nephew, Jimmy Jamms, and his best friend, April Showers, portrayed respectively by Lucy Nichols and Elloise Fisher. Both performers were superb and gave big, energetic performances which kept the action moving at a great pace. The chemistry between the two actors was fantastic and brought a real truthfulness to their relationship. Lucy’s rapport with the audience was spot on and her boundless vivacity was delightful. Elloise made for a sweet, silly April and she handled the unrequited love storyline with real sincerity. Her scenes with Princess Angelica were also very well performed, with the characters sniping and glaring at each other throughout.

Grayci-Mai Wilson took this part, and she brought a huge amount of dynamism to the role. Her princess was bossy and spoilt, and she flounced around the stage like a petulant teenager. I loved her energy and characterisation; it had great drive and purpose and some of her ‘horrified’ facial expressions were priceless. She interacted particularly well with Gina Espinosa, her onstage father, King Montogomery. Gina looked like she was having great fun in her role and presented a benevolent, kind-hearted monarch whose anxiety-inducing relationship with his daughter was well-observed and very humorous.

Opening a new restaurant in town, in direct competition to Dot’s Diner, was Cordelia Glitch, a smart and sophisticated entrepreneur with big plans. Poppy Dalton took this role and managed to capture the character’s ruthless, scheming nature perfectly. I loved her stony-faced stare, snide comments and obnoxious air. Partnered with her, was Jean-Pierre Flambé, the French chef, played by Matthew Lee. This was another lovely character role brought to life by an actor whose enthusiasm and expressive face made a real impact. His accent was good, and audience members really enjoyed his interactions with Dame Dot.

Moving onto our titular character, the Frog Prince, and this was played by two performers. Chloe Gleadhill was the human version known as Prince Justin whilst Louise Lee was his amphibious alter-ego. Chloe had superb posture and stance as the romantic royal and her ‘received pronunciation’ was very good and suitably regal. Louise, in green face paint and full frog costume, was equally good and should be commended for her precise gestures as she mimed along to Chloe’s amplified, offstage voice.

Finally, no pantomime is complete without a baddie, and this had one of the best; Repugna Coldfinger, the witch, played by Joan Thompson. She really made an impact with her opening number, ‘Goldfinger’, strutting around the stage in a glittery, show-business frock that Shirley Bassey would have been proud of. Joan had a loud, imposing voice and a command of the stage, something all good villains should have. They should also have a buffoonish, ‘numbskull’ of a henchman and this came in the form of Hogbog, a pig-snouted, slug-loving troll played by Michelle Marshall. For me, this was the show-stealing performance, and I loved every moment Hogbog was on stage. Michelle simply sparkled in the role with her sharp comic timing and funny expressions, hobbling into scenes to act as the perfect foil to her wicked boss.

In addition to her acting role, Michelle was the producer of the show and, alongside director, Abbie Livermore, also arranged and choreographed the musical numbers. Both ladies should be congratulated on their creativity and commitment for bringing such a wonderful pantomime to the community of Langtoft. The musical numbers were lively and vibrant, and there were many excellent moments throughout. My particular favourites were the very funny and beautifully timed chase scene to ‘Crazy Frog’ and the ‘chocolate bar’ skit which got a well-deserved round of applause.

Moving on to technician extraordinaire, Martin Baines, who was perhaps the biggest star of the show. What Martin achieved with his lighting, sound and special effects in this small village hall was astonishing and really lifted the whole pantomime to another level. The lighting was excellent and used effectively to enhance scenes and musical numbers, and the cues were sharp and well-timed, as were the sound effects which were high-quality and atmospheric. I like the use of projections to add more to the action on stage such as the online dating profile of the prince and the mice sailing away in a gravy boat. The use of rolling dry ice was especially good and not easy to achieve – this was a super moment.

It’s often a challenge to costume a big panto cast and there were some good efforts. I liked Hogbog’s outfit and multi-coloured wig, the prince and king were suitably regal, and the frog outfit was impactful. However, moving forward, this is perhaps an area that the team may want to look at developing in the future. I understand there might be financial and practical limitations but allocating a larger share of the budget to costume would complement the already high production values in other areas.

The make-up was strong, particularly the frog face paint and Hogbog’s snout, and the scenery was colourful and eye catching, I was really impressed with the number of sets there were and the amount of effort that had clearly gone into painting the backcloths. Well done to stage manager, Kal Hassan, for his smooth-running scene changes and for keeping the show flowing.

This production really was a treat and so much fun, bursting at the seams with so many entertaining moments. I’d like to pass on my heart-felt congratulations to Abbie, Michelle and the whole cast and crew for an evening to remember. The Frog Prince was a prime example of what community theatre should and can be. The audience were clearly having a ball and should feel very lucky to have such an asset as Langtoft Players in their village. I’m already looking forward to the next one!

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