The Prince's Ball

There was a warm welcome for my first visit to the Old Windsor Memorial Hall which felt airy and spacious with a good size stage thanks to the addition of the large temporary forestage. It was great to see a wide age range of performers on stage and the younger players being given a chance to take key roles. The stage never felt overcrowded even when most of the cast were in the scene.

Perhaps taking inspiration from Pantoland at the Palladium, the Riverside Players’ one act family panto was a fresh clever script packed with cheesy old and new sounding jokes, adult innuendo and some classic pantomime business which was very well judged for a family audience returning to a live theatre for the first time in two years. While Silly Billy got a lot of the best gags, most characters had a chance to raise a laugh too. The Memorial Hall was probably just far away from Windsor Castle for the Royal Princes’ mickey taking to not be overheard!

It looked very pretty with some wonderfully painted pastel tumbler back drops which perfectly set the scenes and were very well lit by the small number of front of house lamps so that there were no dark spots and the projections over the proscenium were still clearly visible and effective. The sound balance was also very good with a well edited music track never overwhelming the voices.

It is very refreshing to see an up-to date modern topical pantomime written by one member of the society, well-paced in the direction, funny in the delivery with just enough music and dance to create a rounded show.

 

 

 

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