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It’s
the first week in January; the hangover drifts into the distant past, the
last quality street slips down as easy as the first and it must be pantomime
time at Parish Players. So at 7.30, nice and punctual, the ever-eager
Thursday crowd settled down as the show opened with a lively opening number
that avoided the obvious and over used musical clichés for Dick Whittington.
Now
allow me to cut to the crux of the matter immediately by talking about the
major factor of this and recent pantomimes that parish Players have staged.
Chris Abbott! With out a doubt he has pushed the production values of the
company through the roof. I have been unfortunate enough to see a number of
companies perform pantomimes this year, both amateur and professional, but I
have seldom seen such originality in staging and design. The limitations of
the hall stage were completely ignored as Chris designed and produced a show
with original and vibrant sets, outstanding use of puppets and some simple
but effective special effects. I have no doubt he already working out how
PP’s can put a fly tower on the roof of the hall.
Ok
here comes the first moan, chorus you may not be enjoying yourself but at
least act as though you are. There were many whose smiles were worth the
entrance fee alone and complimented the action on stage; there were some
that looked as though they were performing in a Greek tragedy. Also knowing
your words for each song means you’ll sing with far more confidence and
you’ll be louder in the process; this was particularly evident for In The
Navy. It is well known that I hate the aaaah factor in pantomimes but it
must be said that Toby Conyers was my favourite member of the chorus, David
could have breathed fire and no one would have noticed, all eyes were on
Toby.
Now
lets have a look at the principals.
Belinda Thomas was great fun to watch and you really began to feel that she
hated those poetic lines, very original portrayal of a difficult pantomime
role. Pete Smith looked and sounded fabulous as King Rat, true menace but a
rat without a tail seemed a little strange. Emily Miller looked wonderful as
the Queen of the Sea, so green. She actually looked wet, as though she had
taken a shower in her costume. Fortunately she also never required a prompt
either. Chrissy Watson had all the gusto and brashness one would expect from
a sultan but had her beard slipped or was she meant to have a hairy chest?
Anne Carroll swaggered around the stage, as all good captains should do,
more Errol Flynn than crusty old sea dog. Great work. Hannah Reeves and
Emily Vaughan-Barratt just made me smile, young acting talent like that is a
joy to watch, each had their own identity but worked well together as a
team. They had clearly invested time in rehearsals, never let the energy
levels slip, and showed lots of style. Ray Ball just cracks me up every time
I see him; it’s like watching Spike Milligan in slow motion. A great sense
of timing and despite his stature never crowds the stage. Richard Warner
looked disturbingly young; Cilla Black in the mid-sixties sprang to mind. He
played the tough ‘link’ role well but it’s just a shame about the shoes,
which didn’t quite match the costume. Tom Sheridan looked great as Tommy the
Cat and put in a very physical performance and full of energy. He never fell
into the cute cuddly cat trap and always acted more like Top Cat than
Bagpuss. David Golder’s stagecraft is always top draw; great to hear the
classic ‘no sign of Dick’ line but he must have been in a terrible draft on
that stage, especially in the second act. Chrissie Murray showed great
confidence and class, she moved, sang, acted and interacted with such
aplomb. No prissy and wishy washy (sorry wrong panto) leading lady, instead
a true principal girl who’s growing relationship with Dick was believable.
Caroline Chick was perfect, in my view the role of So-Shi in Aladdin was not
meaty enough for her, as Master Whittington she shone. Confident when things
went wrong, commanding the stage at the right moments and tackling a tough
solo song with real verve. She should feel proud of her performance and l
look forward to seeing her and Chrissie in more dramatic pieces in future.
Other points of note in the show were the closing song of Act one; the very
slick ‘mop routine’; the under sea scene using UV light (but can sharks swim
backwards?); King Rat’s solo and the harmony in ‘Grow the Roses of Success’.
I was particularly taken by the rat puppets and all of the puppeteers should
have been credited as such in the programme.
Props costumes lighting and sound all played their part and added further to
the high production value. The band were a good tight unit but never too
loud, the make up strong but not comical. What more could the cast want?
Now
I know it is hard to move seamlessly from one required element of a
pantomime to the next but at times I felt that elements were a little slow
or worse still, under rehearsed. This may have been due to first night
nerves, I don’t know, but some sections moved at a near funereal pace.
Others were slick and full of pace. If I take the slapstick scene in the
kitchen for example, this seemed to be shoe horned into the show. The pace
was mixed and of all the elements in pantomime this should be the slickest
if it is to work. The mop routine however, had pace and was near perfect to
my eyes and ears, gone in a flash but very memorable.
The
rule of thumb in theatre is one hour of rehearsal for one minute of stage
time and that is with lyrics and lines learnt. I know that’s not possible
for Parish Players but in pantomime certain key elements must be rehearsed
for a long time to build up the actors confidence and pace. Those cast
members who had spent time developing their characters and rehearsing their
performance stood out.
Having said that Parish Players know it’s audience and gives them exactly
what they want but thankfully they no longer know their limitations. This
show was polished and demonstrated that as a company they can come together
to stage a production that exceeds audience expectations.
Maggie Chick but especially Chris Abbott are to be warmly congratulated, as
together they have put on a traditional pantomime to warm the heart and lift
the spirits following difficult times around the world.
To
watch pantomime should be an escape and escape we did, but to watch young
Toby Conyers; well that was just a joy.
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