The Great Panto Rhyme Crime

This society has indeed a wealth of talent and this panto was incredible with a script to die for. From beginning to end it was packed full of surprises and as the theme was ‘Nursery Rhymes’ I was amazed to see how many they packed in. It was written by in house ‘Script Writers’ Adrian Hulford and assisted by John Mawer. What a script it was and so imaginative and extremely clever in every aspect. What talented writers they are. They are backed by a wonderful team and with the talented cast the evening started off with a very clever routine which was loved by the audience and involved the whole cast. They sang with gusto and obvious enthusiasm, one of the best opening scenes I have seen. The show continued in this spirit and engaged the audience at every opportunity. The sets were simply superb and the construction and designs were ingenious and in such detail; it was hard to take everything in. It was colourful and imaginative and the painting of it by Larry Lampert and Joan Pattison must have taken weeks and portrayed so many aspects of Nursery Rhymes and I loved it. How you managed this on such a small stage was indeed an incredible task and a huge success. Stage Director Ken Branson and crew changed it with ease to create new scenes. Props were another factor which were authentic in adding to the all-round nursery rhyme theme.

The set combined with an excellent lighting plot and good sound certainly created a good old fashioned panto atmosphere and with the brilliant array of colourful costumes made by in house team Anne Swailes, Ann Feiven, and Joan Pattinson we were off to a good start. All these costumes depicted Nursery Rhyme Characters and were so realistic that I could easily recognise every character. Some went beyond just being a costume and had intricate mechanisms which were very clever indeed, especially ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ ‘Black Bird in the Pie’ and ‘Humpty Dumpty’. I also loved the sheep and the blind mice but to be honest all the costumed sparkled and were so well made. M.D. James Tait led the super choice of musical numbers with gusto and at a merry speed keeping everything going at a great pace. There was a good choice of songs and the new ones written by James Tait and John Mawer were really good and all added to the plot. We also had great fun singing the panto song ‘The Grand old Duke of York”. A lot of extra ideas off stage all added to this show e.g. the Nursery Rhymes up on the walls around the room and I also like the projections on stage at the beginning and during the interval. A really good idea!

With this great script and extremely funny and topical jokes the cast could not go wrong. The whole cast were fully engaged and sang with gusto in all Musical numbers I particularly loved the solo/chorus rendition of ‘One Voice’ led by Kay Evans who has a wonderful voice. . The youngsters in the show were very good and really sparkled and were on cue all the time. Every character in this show was convincing and all gave of their best and though in this show a little unfair to single out characters as it was a real team effort special mention must go to a few. ‘King of Hearts’ Mike Jevans and   ‘Queen of Hearts’ Robert Familton were a perfect match and worked so well together. Their costumes were superb. Robert Familton singing and dancing a lovely routine with her children was very clever and well-rehearsed.  ‘Knave of Hearts’ Hannah Ridley gave a very accomplished performance and made a good addition to the ‘King and Queen of Hearts’ family. ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ Eilidh Evans was wonderful what a little star of the future she will be. She simply ‘Sparkled throughout the whole show. ’Little Miss Muffet’, Amy Cowans was a lovely part for her. She excelled and was a very pretty and endearing ‘Miss Muffet’. John Mawer director and writer was obviously in his element as ‘Humpty Dumpty’ as was hilarious and his puppeteering was superb. ‘Narrator’ Pat Lewis held the show together with a very sound and animated performance though a little doddery at the end due to rather too much of ‘whatever’ she was consuming from the bottle she had by her side!!!

However this time the star for me was ‘Detective Hilda’ Sue Wood, she is a great actress but this part was made for her and she milked it to the full and delighted us with her portrayal of ‘Vera’ and could well have been her!!! So many more performances I could commend but surfice to say a huge well done to you all.

My congratulations to writers Adrian Hulford and John Mawer and in particular to John in directing this original and innovative show. The script had as much for adults as well as children and the show was thoroughly enjoyed by all. My congratulations to you all for giving us all such a wonderful and original evening of entertainment.

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