Panto success story (From Free Press Series)

Panto success story

MORE than 50 local youngsters joined the ranks of seasoned actors for Off Centre Theatre's pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

There was plenty of magic and merriment as the theatrical group thrilled packed audiences at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls.

This was Off Centre's 13th annual production. It is becoming increasingly difficult for this talented group to improve upon past performances but this year's rendition of the famous fairytale was certainly one of the best ever.

Katharine Harper was a newcomer to the lead role of Snow White and captured the hearts of the audience with her sweetness and charm.

The principal boy, Prince Regal, was played by Scarlett Harris with relevant style. But regular panto-goers were not disappointed as Jim Newcomb again played the Dame, this time Dame Pudding, and provided yet another polished and professional performance.

The display of his many extravagant costumes, his repartee with the audience, his timing, sense of fun and brilliant ad-libbing for anything that didn't go according to plan, delighted the audience throughout the show.

Stuart MacFarlane played Bubbles, the Queen's general dogsbody, with his customary flair and flamboyancy and thrilled the audience with his antics, especially when the audience was able to shout out "he's behind you" when looking for the ghost.

But the pantomime ultimately belonged to the youngsters, many of which were treading the boards for the first time.

A truly memorable performance was the Chicago-style All that Jazz dance routine for which choreographer Emma Jayne Parker had trained the youngsters so that their performance was second to none.

They maintained this standard for the brilliant routine in the Grease-tribute All Together Now and in the touching scene where the animals' paid homage to Snow White.

Many of the brilliantly executed scenes which added more magic to the panto, were created by local designer Jayne Crockford, and included the highlight for many in the audience - the magical tidying up scene where, in a beautiful dream, all the larger-than-life cleaning equipment busily tidied the dwarfs' cottage.

The seven dwarfs were immediately accepted by the audience and were ably led by Doc (David Price) and assisted by Tony Brindley as Sneezy, Rhian Mitchell as Happy, Caroline Pearce as Grumpy, Ann Long as Bashful, and the younger cast members of Danny Risk as Sleepy and Lara Craig as Dopey.

Special mention should be made of the performances made by the Wicked Queen (Barbara Spence) whose performance was suitably aggressive and frightening.

The Lord Chamberlain (Roger Withers) greatly contributed as a foil both for the Wicked Queen and the Dame and the two wizards, Fred Frizzy (Chris Ryde) and Dot Dizzy (Angela Hughes), complemented each other.

The excellent script was written by members of the group.

The stage manager, Mark Finlayson and his crew ensured that the special effects and scene changes were seamless.

This was yet another professional production by a very talented amateur group. The show had something for everyone and director Anne MacFarlane and her team deserve the highest praise for providing such wonderful entertainment for the people of Monmouth.