The Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe

Thank you for your kind invitation to report on your recent production of this pantomime, which tells the tale of a developer who buys everyone out of a village – except the old woman in the shoe.  The script is well written and devised, with lots of jokes, puns, and fun with the normal characters.  This was a good choice of material for the company as it provided so much opportunity for farcical interpretation and creative presentation. 

The scenery and set were vibrant with bright colours and contrasts in depicting the rural village, with villagers in bright coloured costumes.  The opening song was well performed and cheerful, with natural voices being quite adequate for the small venue.  The scene changes were well done, and well planned, although at times they did form a slight pause in the action.  The use of the well outside the Shoe house was very well done, with holes in the flats cleverly used. The kitchen scene was great fun, with plenty of slapstick and misunderstandings creating wonderful havoc. 

The music was recorded, and very well edited, with a good selection of songs, many of which I did not recognise but the audience thoroughly enjoyed. The singing was very good, with some lovely solos and duets.  The sound effects were on time and added to the fun in many ways.   The costumes were lovely: bright, cheerful and appropriate, with plenty of changes for the Dame and the leads. 

However, the show focussed on the actors, who all played their parts with enthusiasm and energy - while the forgetful Baron was amazing in handling his mishaps!As ever with this Society, there was enormous fun had by both cast and audience throughout the evening.  It was very engaging to see a different story used as the basis of a pantomime, and with a novel script that told the story clearly and with a good sense of humour.  The performance was perhaps slightly short on smooth flow, but this was more than made up for by the energy and fun that was had, and the very good detail in scenery and performance.  Well done!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.