The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Sisters

Richard had written this version with a different twist to the familiar Cinderella pantomime. This one was set in the Wild West with some great character names like Snakebite Jim, The Avocado Kid and  also featured a couple of Mexicans and instead of going to The Ball they went to The Deadwoodstock Festival. The basic story of Cinderella was there along with the ugly sisters and was packed lots of  terrible corny jokes and a host of toe-tapping songs. Richard had directed this production along with picking up on lots of the Production tasks.  I  note that Ann Roffe, who also played Dan Dini, was equally busy on the production side. Well done to the both of them for all their work and dedication to bringing this show to life.

Lauren Bunce took the role of Cinderella. She is an experienced young actress who impressed with a heartfelt and memorable performance.   The outrageous Sisters, Thelma and Louise ( Paul Chapman and Gavin Bickersteth)  kept the audience entertained well and were accompanied by their mother, Belle Starr performed by Kelly Meecham. Richard Knightley  was Joe Buttons, the Bartender. He thrived in his role and gave a confident performance, with good asides to the audience and generally helped keep up the pace of the show.  Two other very believable characters were Caroline Gage who portrayed The Duke and Ann Roffe as Dan Dani. These two ladies who I am sure are no strangers to the stage gave polished performances in both their acting and singing. Hayley Hynard also kept this village audience amused with her comedy performance as the Fairy Godmother.

There were several other amusing characters including some younger cast who all delivered some entertaining scenes. However, for me, one stand out character was the Doctor played by Darcy Rule. This young lady certainly showed promise for the future with amusing characterisation and good timing.  I must add at this point that the whole cast kept up their American (or Mexican) accents well throughout. There was a rousing opening number to kick off the show and some lively and energetic song and dance numbers which the cast attacked with enthusiasm.

The set building team had been kept busy producing lots of effective hand painted flats to set the scenes along with good and colourful costumes.

Well done to all the cast and crew for a very entertaining and enjoyable show.

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