The Pied Piper

Many thanks to Ribchester Amateur Theatre Society for inviting me also to see their production of The Pied Piper, written by Keith Flood at performed at Ribchester Village Hall on Thursday 2nd February 2023. The show told the classical Pied Piper story, with a panto twist including all the typical expected characters.  This piece was of a traditional feel and my key take away from this work was that of community spirit and comradeship.

Directed by Dave Proctor, the entire piece used great dynamic staging, a great rounded set of characterisations throughout. As the narrative is mainly around the falsehoods of the council of the town, there were some great jokes brought into the text which reflected the current political climate. There were some interesting and well selected musical numbers within the piece, which were performed to tracks or backing tracks. I personally would have preferred consistency of one or the other, especially when supporting vocals were not required to enhance the quality (the dame’s numbers as example). Choreography was undergone by Rebecca Soper with help from Frances Lamburn, which was simple yet effective. Although very well-rehearsed, I felt like some of the technicality of the chorus could have been reduced to ensure all members of the cast could undertake the movements in synchronisation. Other design elements of the production were grass root, which I loved as brought the community feel to the show and they worked well to contextualise the production and its characters and messaging.

Now to the cast, the chorus were split into 2 sections: the rats and the Townsfolk. I must note that the rats we super cute bringing great characterisations with rodent like gestures and squeaks. My favourite moments of this groups’ performance were when their acting were continued over the rest of the action, as it added texture and energy to the scenes, very nice work all. The Townsfolk had a great energy and were very clear and pronounced. It was obvious they had worked hard as they appeared well rehearsed with great reactions created through living in the moment.

The Mayor and Town Clerk were performed by Rebecca Soper and Florrie Billington, Rebecca has a great presence and brought some good vocals to musical numbers, Florrie appeared a little nervous in the role, but performed well and am sure will grow in confidence the more she performs.

 There were 2 baddies in the production, Otto Von Schupergruper Pumpernickel, performed by Hannah Murray, and Queen Rat, performed by Emmy Burgon. Both did a stunning job and portraying these characters both vocally and physically. Hannah brought consistency to the role with grimaces, and wicked cackles and Emmy brought some great fingerography throughout and performed an excellent rendition of ‘I Hate Humans.’

The love interest in the panto were performed by Emma Thomas as Hans and Olivia Soper as Trudi. They had a lovely rapport together. Frans was performed as the panto-typical principle male, with thigh slaps included for good spirit. There was a nice presence to Emma’s performance. Trudi had a great innocence brought about her. Both performed vocally very well too. Hans, Frans’ brother, was played by Finlay Hart who was very charming and brought some real endearment to the audience participation and interaction moments. Willy, a principal member of the Townsfolk was performed with good pace and presence by Toby Gilmore. I was impressed how he maintained the integrity of the limp and use of crutches throughout the show. Rebecca Parkinson played the Pied Piper well and had a good energy with this small title named part.

Last but by no-means least, Dame Gerda was performed by Rebecca Duggan who was quite simply a delight to watch within this role. She created a wonderful, detailed characterisation, physically, facially and vocally, with a consistent thick Eastern European accent, which was 100% articulate and clear throughout, which is especially remarkable seeing as she was wearing a mouthpiece to visually grotesque the character. She brought a great energy to the role with a persona au fait with Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus. Her gags were en pointe and vocals were solid in the musical numbers.

Thank you once again to Ribchester Amateur Theatre Society for inviting me also to see this production. I look forwards to seeing further works from you in the near future.

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