The Mermaid's Tale

Neale and Dylan did a great job of bringing pantomime up to date in this latest venture and I imagine that the younger and more familiar with social media etc. really enjoyed the new approach.

The pantomime had characters that were somewhat changed to suit the story and it worked very well. There were some brilliant names!

I particularly enjoyed the two young women Surf and Persil who had the majority of the modern terminology. They were expertly characterised by Sophie Gane and Jess Shore.

Lily Poore played Neptune’s third daughter Ariel and she has a very pretty singing voice but needed to project more.

Sarah Poore in the role of Shelley, also spoke rather too quietly for her dialogue to be heard some of the time.

Nevertheless both ladies acted well.

Mike looked splendidly regal and was impressive in the role of King Neptune.

Another excellent performance was from Tom Manly as Vanish the Merman. He is magnetic on stage, whatever part he plays!

Poor Pearl who SO wants to impress Vanish but goes to pieces every time she’s with him, was played by Rachel Barnes who gave a captivating performance and projected wonderfully.

I understand it was Diane Stahlman’s first outing with St. Hilda’s and in the role of Crabula, the baddy of the pantomime, she was suitably intimidating – her diction was good too.

Her sidekicks, Snip and Snap played by Graham Sheath and Lois Clark, supported her well in her evil intentions.

Jack Jeakins and Rob Devereaux provided plenty of humour in their respective roles of Sting and Ray, and they were clearly enjoying themselves. They worked well together.

As the principal boy Prince Adam, Shannon Clark had a small role and sometimes appeared a little uncertain - a smile works wonders on stage!

Dave Patman gave us a saucy Flapper, banished for leaving King Neptune’s Realm; Craig Entwistle tried without success, and midst much laughter  from the audience, to ‘drill’ the crew as Buttock, and Steve Smith made a splendid Old Salt.

The members of the chorus, always an important part of any production, also added to the overall presentation of the pantomime.

Chorus numbers were lively and the Poore ladies created simple but effective choreography that the company could put across confidently.

The scene on the ship was lively and provided an opportunity for Sea Shanties and Hornpipes and of course the mop routine, as did ‘If I were not ----‘ performed in front of the tabs.  Loved that one!

Once again the costumes were super, sparkly and bright colours and the props were appropriate.

The set was especially good with lots of attention to detail.  Congratulations to The Entertainers Team!

Lighting and sound worked competently – the green underwater lighting was super, and the sound effects for the storm were menacing.

Neale must have enjoyed seeing the pantomime coming together as it did, and also being able to direct something for which he had a vision from the start. Well done.

Thank you for inviting me to see ‘The Mermaids Tale’ and my thanks to Chris and Neale for looking after me so well on the evening.

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