The Three Musketeers

THE MENDIP PLAYERS

PANTOMIME THE THREE MUSKETEERS

As seen by ROS HOLLANDS, N.O.D.A. SW ASSISTANT REP on

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7th 2026

for Kate Marshall N.O.D.A. SW REP.

 

Directed by: Dan Ward

Music:

Hannah O’Niel, Laura Cobley, Alice Cobley

Choreographed by: As above

DRAYCOTT MEMORIAL HALL     DRAYCOTT SOMERSET.

This was one of those evenings, weather wise, where maybe you’d rather be sat at home curled up in front of a roaring fire. Not me or my friend. We set off from Wiltshire through driving rain to Somerset and the impressive Draycott Memorial Hall. We arrived in time for a sandwich, before entering into the building; and what a building. Just the right space for a village panto.

     On entering, myself and my friend were greeted by a costume clad front of house team in their French striped tops and berets. EVEN THE BAR STAFF WERE DRESSED IN THE SAME COSTUME. It was that early on in the proceedings that I thought someone here knows exactly what they are doing. 

So much better than a cast of characters in costume milling about selling programs etc. {my pet hate that folks } Your guys and gals looked fabulous and a real part of the team.

     The hall began to fill with excited members of the audience and  I was pleased to see an almost full house. It was mostly adults, but they were certainly up for the evenings entertainment. Thank you to those members of the Players who came to speak to myself and my friend before curtain up. It’s always nice to get some inside knowledge of a group beforehand. I’ve never been here before and you made me feel very welcome. 

      The wait before curtain up also gave me a chance to have a look through the rather nice, colourful program. It was very well put together with the faces of the cast members photographed in their everyday clothes, rather than in costume. I liked that because it didn’t spoil the magic of knowing the costumes before the panto began.

      We were told that there were a lot of newbies involved in the panto in one way or another. I would never have known if we hadn’t been told.

  A new lighting gantry had been installed thanks to Bernie O’Niel a long time member of the Mendip Players. How wonderful is that. It must have made a great difference to this production and I’m sure will be an  asset in the future.

The main hall and stage were perfect for this production.

 

Writer.  Vicky Orman

The Three Musketeers is not a subject I have seen in scripts for panto. This one written by Vicky was very good. It had every aspect of what is considered a good panto. Child friendly, very silly in places and a slap stick scene. More about that later.

Director.  Dan Ward

   Dan is to be congratulated on a job well done. Panto is an art form all of its own and Dan quite obviously has the knowledge and stage experience to bring it all together. It certainly looked like it anyway. Well done Dan.

Music and Choreography

    Hannah, Laura and Alice. This is a group with some very young players in principle roles and chorus musical numbers. 

 From the outset I realised that the youngsters were not going to be singing but would be using backing tracks for their dance/singing moves. All in all they did a good job. Choreography was simple but effective from everyone. It would have been nice however to hear more singing from the young ones.

 Music was chosen well and we weren’t bombarded with songs every five minutes. [Another of my pet hates I’m afraid.] Great job choreographers and very panto friendly.

 

Stage Manager - Dan Ward

    This was very well staged and Dan, once again, along with his crew knew what he was doing. Nothing more to say really. Good job done.

 

Sound And Lighting.

Hannah Farnie, Stephen Farnie.

    This was a very colourful panto. Lighting and sound can be tricky to get right. Hannah and Stephen did a good job. No late lighting cues in this one on this night. I particularly liked the red lighting with white face lighting during one of the Cardinals entrances and songs. So often faces are forgotten and the stage is steeped in red light. Another nice job. Well done. 

 

Set Build and Set Decoration. 

As in most groups a lot of people were engaged in the set build and decoration. Once again an excellent job by all. I loved the reference to ‘Le Pub’ and other French ideas.

 

Wardrobe

Costumes were very good. A lot of thought had gone into making/sourcing them. The children’s hound and shark costumes were simple but very effective. More about costume of individual characters later. 

 

To all the other back stage, front of house and publicity people, far to numerous to mention, well done, you are all an integral part of The Mendip Players.

 

CHARACTERS

D’Artagnan … Maddie 

Maddie, you made a very good principle boy. You have a very confident stage presence and a good singing voice. You held the audience with every entrance and we warmed to you straight away. Well done. [I do just have to mention the fishnets. Maybe thicker tights would have been better to cover the rather large tattoo on the top of your leg.] That’s only my opinion of course. That said it certainly did not mar an excellent performance.

 

Athos.    Fliss

Porthos. Allie

Aramis.  Ronnie

These three ladies certainly gave a glowing performance. Allie White gave a performance that had the audience eating out of her hand. Her comedy timing was also incredibly good. Characterisation in all three roles was good. I laughed out loud at most of the jokes. Well done ladies.

Your costumes and props were simple but very effective. Great hats and feathers.

 

King Louise  Stephen 

Queen Anne  Bea

Your costumes were some of the best I’ve seen in panto. And you had just the right look for the roles you were playing. Mannerisms and characterisation were believable from both of you. Always important in the scheme of things. You were both just right for the roles you played. You looked fabulous.

 

Lady Constantina. Hennesey 

I sometimes think the role of principle girl is one of the most insignificant parts you can play in pantos, such as this one. I don’t mean you were insignificant but the role itself. You actually did a good job. Playing to your strengths and singing well with Maddie. Be confident – like I said, you did a good job. And once again, I loved your costume. You wore a full petticoat underneath your dress as did the queen. I was so pleased. So many times dresses are left hanging without any fullness. 

 

Nursie Merci. [Dame] Jake

There are not many words to say about this performance. I don’t have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to do you justice Jake. Suffice to say, I think you are the best amateur panto dame I have seen for many years. And I’ve seen a few.

Your mannerisms, characterisation, diction and all round performance were excellent. You had great makeup, costume, wigs, oh, and shoes to die for. From your entrance through the middle of the audience to the final curtain you got my vote for stand out performance of the night. Great job.

 

Zoot Alors. Laura

Laura, you had a big job with this single comedy role. The role is there to hold the panto together throughout. Not easy for one so young. I did feel at first that you were very nervous. You didn’t need to be. Your costume was great and you gradually warmed as the plot went on. It kind of felt like a first night performance at first. Then you got more confident. The nerves dissipated and you gave a sterling performance.  

One to watch for the future I feel.

 

Cardinal Richelieu. Oliver

Every panto needs a good baddie. You were definitely it. An imposing stance on your roller blade shoes. Genius idea by the way. Good costume and audience involvement. I think maybe you have done a few pantos in your time. If you haven’t then you are a natural anyway. We enjoyed booing as did the rest of the audience. 

You also gave your young partners in crime confidence I’m sure. Good all round performance. You also showed that you do not have to be a singer in panto to put in a song. Well we’ll call it a song. ‘How Bad Can I Be.’ Your execution of said song was indeed a ‘tour de force.’ 

 

Roquefort     Hazel 

Camembert  George

This comedy duo played absolutely to their strengths. How wonderful to see young people making their way in the am dram world. Hazel, you have so much confidence on stage for a young performer. You actually carried this role easily, using the baddie vibes to engage the audience at all times.[ I felt your hat brim was a little too big. Although I could maybe see the comedy factor behind it. It affected your stance sometimes, and facial expression was a bit lost through shading of features.] Well done though on an otherwise good performance.

George this was not an easy role to play. You put your heart and sole into it and gave an enjoyable performance. Just work on your diction and speed of words for next time. I did lose some of the dialogue in places because you were talking a bit too fast. You are quite obviously another one to watch for the future. Well done to you too. 

You and Hazel worked well together.

 

Milady. Maria

Maria took this small role in her stride. I’m sure she fully enjoyed her time on stage - if her smile was anything to go by. Good job Maria.

 

Senior and Junior chorus

Not a big adult chorus in this one, as in some companies panto’s. What they did was well - rehearsed and never in the way of the principles. This is down to good direction from Dan and an understanding of what you were doing on the stage at any one time. Any lines you were given were delivered well adding to the overall production. 

What can I say about the junior chorus? You were adorable in your dance moves and even more adorable as the hounds. I’ve already mentioned your costumes. [Next time can you please smile. It makes so much difference to your performance.] 

You all did really well. You all seemed to be in the right place at the right time and never covering the principles. This once again is down to good direction from Dan and a well-rehearsed young chorus. You also delivered any lines given to you well. Your enthusiasm shone through and I’m sure there were some very proud parents in the audience by the cheers at the walk down.

There was  a great deal to enjoy during this panto. I do have to mention the slapstick scene, which is a regular in most original pantos. Slapstick is, like panto, an art form all of its own. One which takes a great deal of rehearsal and skill. It needs to be fast paced too. I did feel that maybe it wasn’t quite how it should be ….  but that didn’t stop the laughter from the audience during the cast antics. Therefore, I can only add a well done for giving it a real, good, go and succeeding in achieving a very passable outcome.

My congratulations must go to Dan Ward: director, stage manager, back stage crew, set build, and I’m sure a vast number of other tasks which helped to make this panto the success it was.   

You most certainly know what you are doing Dan. 

Thank you to everyone who made myself and my friend welcome. We managed to travel back to Wiltshire on the M5, M4 with lots of conversation about how enjoyable the evening and panto was. So well done to everyone involved in this very enjoyable panto.

A big thank you to Kate Marshall for giving me the opportunity to cover this for her.

 

Ros Hollands

Assistant NODA rep; for Kate Marshall SW NODA rep.

 

PLEASE NOTE

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he or she sees at the performance in question. The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance and it is inevitable that the assessment will be affected by this knowledge.

The NODA representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed. It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances, and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

 

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