Treasure Island

Centre Stage is a company bursting with enthusiasm both on and off stage, from the warm welcome given on arrival, to the sheer enjoyment of the performers and their audience throughout the evening. The panto had been written by Ellena Snell and Becca Neal, and opened in a funny and original way, with Reece Hannigan coming on as a health and safety officer, delighting the audience with his extremely well executed pratfalls and silly rules. The production of the arm bands before the audience were taken on a journey across the seas was one example of various delightful little gems that occurred during the production.

Jim, ably played by Charlotte Allin, was accompanied by not one but 2 pantomime dames in a clever twist on the traditional pantomime by the scriptwriters. Jason Andre was the mother, and Steven Roach the aunt. Both certainly enjoyed their roles, as did the audience, with some spectacular costumes to keep everything suitably silly.

Graeme Johnston was convincing as Long John Silver, and another gem from the director, Cian Harriss, was when the villain played air guitar on his crutch to Queen’s 7 Seas of Rhye. Brilliant details like this really helped to keep the audience amused and wanting more.The little interlude with the two young girls playing the Waves was also a wonderfully delightful moment. It was also lovely to see such an age range on stage together, making up a great team of players.

The trio of Peggy, Patchy, and Pointy were very well played by Charlie Morton-Moody, Denise Harriss and Becca Neal. Their interactions with the audience were great fun to watch, and they had developed their characters with just the right mix of sense and silliness. The build-up to Yellow Submarine was well written, and their skillful delivery made it very funny.

Some of the scenes did become a little chaotic, such as when the large sea creature was passed along the stage by a row of actors, and parts of the story were occasionally hard to follow. This was not helped by the volume on the mikes being too loud, so that some of the speech was a touch too shrill and shouty, and some of the words in the dialogue and the songs were too loud to hear properly. This did not, however, dampen the enthusiasm of the actors, whose energy made the whole evening a joyful experience.

Perhaps one of the most impressive innovations was the use of the story-book style backdrop to the ship. The simple mast and platform of the ship itself was made magical by the very clever device behind  it, at the back of the stage, turning each “page” of the story in the form of painted cloths that helped to depict the sails of the ship itself as the story progressed. A clever device that proved very effective and really enhanced the production.

All in all, it was an evening of fun, colour, variety, great enthusiasm and some lovely attention to detail. Well done to the fabulous musicians, cast and crew. Thank you so much for inviting me.

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