The Three Musketeers

Blyth Players presented The Three Musketeers at Barnby Memorial Hall, Blyth. This pantomime was written in house by Janette Adams and followed the story of D’Artagnan’s quest in search of the King and Queens’s stolen jewels in the hope of proving himself to be worthy to become a part of the Three Musketeers. This pantomime was well presented and contained many traditional pantomime features; developing a wide range of characters throughout the story.

This was my second visit to Blyth and I am extremely impressed at how this group manage to use the extremely restrictive facilities to their fullest potential. The Director, Sharon Hughes, is obviously well acquainted and experienced with this restricted venue and did well in providing continuous action, traditional pantomime setting, spatial consistency and visual variety throughout; coordinating both principal and ensemble action very nicely. The musical numbers, supported by sound tracks, were generally well executed and the choreography showcased some very good dance ability from the younger performers.

The principles were nicely balanced, working well together and all providing enjoyable performances, with the ensemble providing strong support throughout; especially the younger performers. It was an extremely large cast and I have to say that I felt every performer delivered with competent performances full of fun and enthusiasm.

Costumes, use of makeup, set and props were consistent, vibrant and well sourced, adding to the overall visual enjoyment. Backstage work was handled tremendously well and provided no noticeable interruption to the performance. Whilst technically the use of lighting and SFX worked well and was nicely controlled, with good sound balance during musical numbers.

As I found when reviewing another pantomime a few weeks prior, this production was all about providing the local community with an enjoyable, endearing production, without pretence, that encourages youngsters to get involved with the theatre experience. Blyth’s promotion of Community Theatre, both on and off the stage, was extremely heart warming to witness and something that I dearly hope some of the bigger groups in the Region look to incorporate for the future. Well done to all involved and keep up the good work.

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