The Princess and the Pea

We were warmly welcomed on arrival at the Town Hall and accompanied to our seats in the balcony.  This year the society was showcasing a home grown production, written and directed by society member Helen Howett. It must be tremendous fun to write a panto but the hard work involved in bringing it to the stage should never be underestimated.  

Dancers Flo, Grace, Lyra and Lauren opened the show with The Fairies Introduction which was nicely performed.  We then met Fairy Cakes, the good fairy who arrived on a hoop seat adorned with flowers and wearing a pink trouser suit.  Well done to Fenella Thomson who was great in the role, connecting with the audience and keeping up the banter with bad fairy Dark Tart, well played by Jake Nash in lacy black attire and riding a suitably decorated mobility scooter with ‘L’ plates. This was definitely going to be a panto for the twenty-first century.

King Dave (Brien Walker) and Queen Karen (Rosemarie Slade) were costumed with a nod to the traditional but with modern touches.  A mobile phone being never far away. Prince Cuthbert was nicely played by Freya Bryant and the same must be said of Leila Daw as Penny the housemaid, who the Prince intends marrying.  These two made a good pairing.  Both have lovely voices and their duets were beautifully sung.

Lucy Glover as Queen Sharon from Essex and dressed in an assortment of animal print costumes, has come to claim the Kingdom. Accompanying her are daughters Princess Bianca and Princess Courtney played by David Hurst and Rob Fernall and these three had us all in stitches. 

A lively energetic performance from Rose Smithet as Gunther the Jester.  Paul Gloyne as Marrowfat the Butler seemed to be at everyone’s beck and call, even being on the receiving end of a number of ‘custard’ pies. Well played.

The production, although quite long with lots of scenes, moved at a good pace with everyone playing their part with energy and enthusiasm. It was entertaining, very well costumed and there were some lovely chorus numbers. The cast getting together for “Sing” by candle light was an absolute delight.

The tech team under the watchful eye of Simon Bates provided some superb lighting effects and the sound was always spot on.

Just a couple criticisms.  I felt that better use could have been made of downstage.  As it was, this area often seemed rather empty. Dancing for the most part was good, unfortunately though arm movements were not always in sync.  Hopefully this will improve for the coming performances.

The important thing is that the audience, especially the children, were thoroughly enjoying themselves and that’s what pantomime is all about.

Congratulations to all involved in this fun filled production. Thank you for inviting me and for your hospitality.

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.