The Pied Piper

Having not visited this large, village society for a while due to their biennial pantomime productions, it was a pleasure to return on this occasion. The Pied Piper is a timeless tale and what better venue to be regaled with the classic story than the lovely, intimate Community Hall in Tipton St John. Alan P Frayn’s less ‘Grimm’ version of the pantomime was jam-packed with witty one-liners and combined with well-planned staging decisions from the directors, it provided an excellent night of entertainment.

As the curtains drew back, the audience were treated to a sea of vibrant costumes which matched the German setting perfectly, with particular attention having obviously been paid to hairstyles and makeup. A particular highlight has to be the beautiful ethereal costumes seen in the mountain cave, enhanced to their best with clever lighting, it was a vision. Paired alongside was thoughtfully designed scenery, artistically painted with a large amount of attention to detail, its overall perspective ideal for the size of stage. Another special mention must be made for the pig farm scenery which was colourful and left no doubt of the theme, while the clever, sausage cooking scene had the audience in stitches!

Full chorus numbers such as ‘Beautiful Day’ were tuneful with smiley expressive faces and appropriate movement, perhaps even more impact could have been created with a little less linear staging. On the odd occasion lovely numbers such as ‘King of the Sewers’ sounded slightly lost and unsupported, due to occasional quiet accompanying music, however overall sound was balanced with encouraging, frequent singalong audience participation and excellent sound effects.

Most cast member’s exuded palpable confidence and enthusiasm such as Blatter and Splatter played by Natalie Anning and Claire Devin, their hilarious double act brought much laughter from the audience throughout the performance. As Willy, Denise Wightman brought her own brand of humour; while Dame Helga looked every inch the epitome of a panto Frau...Lauren Taylor and Rebekah Alford made a good team, both oozing charm as the love interest duo. All young cast shone, earning their much deserved place on the stage, bearing their talents at every opportunity, much to audience delight. There were some excellent song choices which included the very relevant ‘Follow Me,’ sung and performed by Pippin the jolly Pied Piper. It was very evident that all cast had worked incredibly hard on their performance, all reaching the best of their ability, however it has to be remembered the occasional forgotten line or slow delivery can slacken pace and energy.

Act II left us wondering what had been consumed in the interval! Energy rocketed, moving the production to a higher level with an apparent newly invigorated cast going on to  provide some of  the best performances of the evening.

Overall this was an entertaining, carefully planned production which cast and crew have evidently worked hard on this year; the benefit of a few more rehearsals would have pushed a perfectly good act I on an even keel with the rest of the show. Even so, as it stood, it was a most enjoyable pantomime.. ?

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