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Beauty and the Beast
Belgrade Theatre
***** THIS year’s
Pantomime is back to the traditional in so many ways and a real treat
for all that. The script is very, very funny and a bit naughty with lots
of innuendo and double
entendre that,
hopefully, goes sailing over the heads of the innocents in the audience! Writer and director
Iain Lauchlan – his 21st
at the Belgrade incidentally -makes an excellent Dame Clarabelle Crumble
alongside sidekick son Willie (Craig Hollinsworth). They run The Pickled Peasant in the pretty French
village of Jambon sur la Baguette. Beauty (Jessica Niles) and her dad
Emile (Declan Wilson – he can come and sing to me anytime) run the
bakery over the road which has just come to the attention of the King
who wants to award Emile Master Baker status at the Royal Court. His journey to court, ill-advised by the
mercurial and narcissistic Maurice (Andrew Gordon-Watkins) and sidekick
Dork (Blake Scott) take him through the Forgotten Forest. There are many
dangers here including the Beast (Charlie Bowyer), condemned because of
his cruelty by the Enchantress (Jenny Phillips) to 500 years of solitude
until he learns about forgiveness. The 500 years is nearly up when the beauty of a
rose growing up the Chateau’s façade stops Emile in his tracks. The
Beast notices and makes him offer the first living thing that greets him
on his return to the village. It is Beauty. The rest is the stuff of
storybooks… This production has loads to recommend it, and
all the right ingredients in the right order! The frocks are suitably
French and outrageous; I loved the cake. The messy scene is clever – Dame and son have
offered to make the village bread until Emile’s return – not that they
know how. The stooge – David; a real sport - was in danger of upstaging
them! The children dancing are always a joy, and the girls in the
audience ran them a close second in dressing up – so lovely to see. This is a hugely enjoyable experience that
doesn’t rely on special effects or ‘magic’ to liven it up, it is sweetly
old-fashioned and traditional, with good songs, great script, plenty of
comedy and enough of all the right ingredients to make – to borrow the
Dame’s analogy – plenty of dough. To 09-01-15. Jane Howard
27-11-15
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