The Search For The Hooden Will

A pantomime Whodunnit?  Not what I was expecting to see but it was an interesting concept.  The story was well written but I am still not sure that it was suited to a pantomime format.  It seemed to fall between two genres and didn’t quite hit the mark with either.

It was written by Dave Smith who also co-directed it and there were some good lines of dialogue.  I think it might have been better to have been produced as a straightforward ‘whodunnit’.   Somehow the ‘pantomime stuff’ that the authors obviously felt obliged to include didn’t really enhance the production.

The company worked very hard to give strong performances, Keith Goody (doubling as Lord Hood and Colonel Hood) produced some hilarious expressions when both characters were expected to be on stage at the same time.  Patrick Magee played Dame Marigold Hood (the obligatory pantomime dame) well; but I didn’t really see the point, apart from the fact that a panto needs a dame!  There are some strong lady performers in the cast and, had this not been a panto, I think any one of them would have been excellent in the part.

The rest of the Hood family, played by Juliet Ware (Rose) Rhys Burrell (Luke) and Emma Thwaite (Leia) were all good and Charley Magee (Freddy) was a strong performer.  Although I was not sure about the ‘Principal Boy’ aspect of that character.  I liked the idea of Simon Haskell playing the butler at each of the locations and there was some good dialogue covering this.  Linda Raymond played the chief inspector and her two sidekicks, played by Rebecca Smith (PC Hall) and Jenny Pavitt (PC Eve) milked the script for every drop of comedy. Jean Appleton and Christian Vince played two ‘police’ dogs, Nickel and Carbon, and that brought another nice comedy element into play.  The Principal line-up was completed by Tracy Foster, Barbara Harrold and Martin Herford, playing 5 parts between the three of them!  The small ensemble playing servants, guests etc., worked extremely hard.

I thought some of the song choices were not really appropriate to the action on stage, although they were, in the main, well performed.  The technical aspects of the show were very strong but, as the authors are both theatre technicians, I expected no less.  The scenery was very well done and the authors clearly know their stuff as they gave plenty of time for the major changes to take place.

Costumes worked well, sound effects and lighting were good and I think the audience enjoyed the production.  Personally I felt that the cross between a whodunnit and a panto didn’t really work but it was still enjoyable to watch.

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