The Snow Queen

When I saw the title of Tony Domaille’s Pantomime I thought I would have a good idea of the story, and thought that this company was taking a more serious option this year, but I was wrong.  This completely original story centred on the character of the Snow Queen, but she had been imprisoned in a book for 1000 years by two wizards and had been inadvertently set free by young Will I Am. This was a romp of a Pantomime from beginning to end, with a wide range of characters to suit all ages and abilities. We were treated to all the elements of a traditional pantomime, a suitably evil Snow Queen with a young Apprentice learning her trade; a lovely Princess chaperoned by a motherly nurse; a dashing young Prince, from a far off land, travelling to find his bride, accompanied by Vince, a most unlikely companion. We then have Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in search of Dobineous a centaur, who is hiding in the forest; an outrageous Dame, in the guise of Mrs McFly, mother to Will I Am and his sister DS Tiny; the King and Queen, parents of Princess Stephanie, and their Chancellor. Then we have the ancient Wizards Eldrid and Eldrod and their Apprentice, who performed some excellent magic tricks, and their Housekeeper, along with Fairy Goody Two Shoes who tried to provide the antidote to the evil the Snow Queen was conjuring. The audience welcomed the frequent and amusing appearances of the eccentric Manic Sweet Preacher. All this, combined with the ‘Ah Factor’ of the small animals, kept the audiences attention throughout. The music was from a backing track, which was well controlled, never overpowering the voices. The songs had been well chosen, with some of the words being adapted to fit the script. The set was well designed and constructed with good use of front of tabs scenes to allow scene changes behind, and well-painted backcloths, which took us to the various locations in the story. The lighting had been well designed with some interesting effects when the Snow Queen used her powers to ‘freeze’ everyone, and also when it was snowing. The costumes fitted well, were colourful, and helped the actors to create the various characters. Several of them such as the Snow Queen and her Apprentice, Dobineous and the hedgehog were particularly effective. The make up was appropriate, with lovely specialized character make up. Sian Bagnall had produced some interesting choreography particularly the opening routine performed by a team of young dancers.  Everyone was enthusiastic in their roles and kept a good pace, had good timing and brought out the humour, which encouraged good audience participation. I particularly liked the characters of Dobineous and Vince. Vince was such an enigma with his barbarian appearance and eloquent homespun philosophy. Of course good triumphed in the end through the endeavours of Prince Eric and his trusty companion Vince. Tony Domaille had produced an entertaining and well-written script, full of topical comments and local references, which delighted the audience. He had obviously worked hard with his cast, in particular the young people to deliver a well-rehearsed, very entertaining Pantomime, in which all the performers were confident and enjoying themselves. As always this was a team effort with everyone involved giving their all to ensure success. Congratulations everyone.

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