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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Hiss
and boo
and all that jazz
Partners in panto: Jester Dai (Ryan Alan Dunn), Harrison Ronald Harold Prince (Jack Heath), Witch Magnificent (Katharine Williams), Balders (Charlotte Crowe) and Dame Nanny Numbkin (Ryan Knight). Pictures: Roy Palmer http://www.digital-images.org.uk/ Sleeping Beauty
Hall Green Little Theatre
****
WHEN you have more witches than Macbeth and enough good fairies to keep
Disney going for years the scene is set for a battle between good an
evil . . . and lots of shouts, boos, hisses and cheers from an
enthusiastic audience. And the
audience helped in any way they could, as, for example, when Harrison
(Harrison Ronald Hubert Prince – HRH Prince . . . geddit!) prevaricated
with some romantic tosh as the princess slept on under the evil spell. As he waffled on the audience
cut out the middleman, in this case scriptwriter and director Dean
Taylor, and told him in no uncertain terms to just kiss her and be done
with it. Great fun. Indeed the cast had to contend
with plenty of advice, comments and asides as they told their tale of
woe, despair and redemption - oh, yes it was! Oh no it . . . I really
should get out more. As a panto it follows
traditional lines with a few asides thrown in, such as an appearance by
Snow White, played by Alice Abrahall, who also cast her spell as Witch
Delores. Snow White, was just passing
through, presumably on her way to another panto at this busy time of
year although Merlin, played with ancient wizardry gusto by David Hirst,
is hardly a panto regular, so was probably quite grateful for a bit of
seasonal employment. If there is a Merlin, of
course, you have to have King Arthur, played by
Her witch has a sort of
offhand evil streak and commands the stage whenever she appears with her
intellectually challenged servant-type person, Balders, played by
Charlotte Crowe. Magnificent’s cohorts on the
dark side are witches Tabatha, Kelly Neech, Agnes, a Scottish hag who
loves torture and pain, played by Shampa Paul, the aforementioned
Delores and, just to show Magnificent is an equal opportunities
employer, Geoff Nunnery as a Warlock. Meanwhile on the side of the
angels, or at least King Arthur we have the fairies, Old played by
Allish Reel, Nuff – Fairy Nuff geddit – played by Ann Hickman, who
managed a tongue-twisting complicated spell and counterspell speech with
aplomb, and finally, with hands that do dishes we had Sarah as Fairy
Liquid. And, we all know there is nothing like a dame, and this dame comes in the guise of Nanny Numbkin, played with a sense of fun by Ryan Knight, who showed good timing and built up an impressive rapport with the audience. Helping, and hindering in equal measure is
his/her none-too bright son Jester Dai, played by
Ryan Alan Dunn. The good fairies, full of
white magic, managed to downgrade the death spell cast on baby Princess
Aurora to a lesser fate of sleeping forever – something parent’s of
teenagers will understand - until awakened by love’s first kiss. Thus Lucy O’Neill is sleeping
on the job for much of the time as the Princess, although s For those unfamiliar with the
story Aurora is doomed to die, or at least sleep, if she is pricked by
the spindle on a spinning wheel before her 18th birthday – a
bit of a long shot you might think considering the dearth of spinning
wheels these days.
But in times of yore, and
around Christmas time, pantoland is awash with them. So off baby Aurora goes into a
woodcutters’ cottage with Nanny and Dai to grow into a beautiful
princess and avoid the curse, or she would have done so had it not been
for a fateful chance meeting with palace cook HRH Prince. But then we all knew she was
going to be found and pricked before her 18th by the forces
of evil, it was just a matter of how. So with the Princess dead to
the world, despite lots of thunder and lightning, we have a battle of
the wands, booing and ribaldry from the peasantry in the audience, and
the traditional everyone living happily ever after, apart from
Magnificent who suffers a touch of the Wicked Witch of the Easts, for
those who know their Oz. Adding to the atmosphere,
rather like the pianists in the era of the silent movies, we had the
superb Geddes Cureton on keyboards while Brian Grant’s imaginative set
with castle walls and an ever changing backdrop – Alan Giles and Tom
Giles on flies deserve a mention – kept up interest. A couple of scenes could be
speeded up and musical numbers could have been a little shorter, Bad
and I’m gonna be (500 miles) in particular but as the
audience were happy singing and clapping along who cares. It all ended with Noddy
Holder’s retirement plan, Merry Christmas Everybody to complete a
most enjoyable pantomime. The song, incidentally, earned an estimated
£512,000 in royalties last year and is already up around the £300,000
mark this year. The essence of panto is a well
told fairy story children can follow, peppered like buckshot with corny
jokes and suffering from bouts of silliness, with a few songs people
know, plenty of chance for an audience to join in and above all it has
to be fun. There were plenty of modern
references and something for kids, teenagers and adults. From the
reaction of both children and adults, it managed to tick just about
every box. Oh yes it did etc until 20-12-14. Roger Clarke
15-12-14 |
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Stephen Head, and Queen Guinevere, played by Lucy Poulter. Arthur is a
bit short of knights, and indeed tables, and is hardly the sort of
dynamic bloke you would expect to rule Britain, so it is no surprise
when he is tricked, not that hard, by Magnificent the Witch, played by
Katherine Williams in a stand-out performance.
he
is a sweet young thing when she is disguised as Pandora and hidden away
in the enchanted forest to avoid the curse of Magnificent.