Garyswordz

*****

Derby Theatre and Artistic Director Sarah Brigham have done it again. A superb award winning   new play which won plaudits and awards in London  has arrived in town!

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This production has  very strong credentials. Having played, pre Covid , in London’s  National Theatre and the West End, Laura Wade’s Olivier Award-winning comedy embarks on its first UK tour produced by Bill Kenwright , who is probably pleased to have his mind taken off Everton football Club at the moment of whom he is a director,  winning the 2019 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Wade is prolific and talented and it is a privilege to see her work performed at Derby. The tour reunites the show’s original creative team: Theatr Clwyd Artistic Director and Co-Director Designate of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Tamara Harvey directs with co-director Hannah Noone, set and costume design by Anna Fleischle, lighting by Lucy Carter, sound design by Tom Gibbons and choreography by Charlotte Broom.

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The stage set is stunning,  a house  in Welwyn Garden City, on two levels, the ground floor awash with period detail. Jessica Ransom knows how to carry a  1950s swing dress, her every movement and pose on stage stylised and pouted, her waist impossibly trim, her reluctance to sell some surplus dresses is strangely convincing and is  physically  omnipresent on  stage. Both set and costume are the meticulous work of Anna Fleische.

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But it is not long, specifically when she opens a drawer and removes her laptop, that we realise that this is the 21st century, and Judy’s seeming authenticity is not what it seems.

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Hitherto the concept of the 1950’s Stepford wife has been a male, sexually driven one, but here playwright   Laura Wade  turns the idea on its head challenging numerous gender and  feminist stereotypes and having a lot of fun with it as she does so whilst simultaneously our fondness for retro chic on the bonfire of reality.

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Judy’s husband John turns out, to be is  a good cook.  Alex,  ( Shanez Pattni) his  manager, has a genuine self confidence in herself  that Judy can only dream of. Judy’s friend Sylvia (  Diane Keen)  is  seduced by the idea of 50’s glamour but not the reality of it in the same way that she has been seduced by the dancing skills  of her husband Marcus (  Mathew   Douglas)  unaware of his lascivious proclivities.

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Her husband, Johnny delivers  performance  of understated power initially glorying in the benefits of a supine wife hen railing against the reality of it.

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As the first half unfolds so the financial and emotional price of this charade unfolds as she acts out something she is too young to have experienced personally, which is where her Mum , Fran ( Cassie  Bradley) comes in. she didn’t march and burn her bra in the 1960’s to put up with this sort of nonsense and in a powerhouse exchange , then monologue delivers some home truths to her prissy daughter as the cohorts of similarly aged women in the audience silently roared her on.

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Wade creates a fantasy of nostalgia, then cruelly strips it away under Tamara Harvey’s skilful direction. Ransom’s  frenetic brash fragility is memorably exposed as she fears infidelity by her husband, moving from frothy skirts and petticoats to  a buttoned up pink dressing gown as she waits to confront him.

Was  life in the ’50s simpler, less hectic and more satisfying with more time albeit with fewer possessions and disposable cash? Not really concludes Wade.

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“Are you happy?” Johnny asks Judy. “Yes, desperately,” she replies unconvincingly.

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This is  a social comedy whose humour lies in its acerbic observation rather than belly- laughs. Scene changes are memorably executed  by a dancing Marcus and Sylvia to a rock n roll soundtrack

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This  brilliant contemporary production was warmly acknowledged by a well attended first night which runs until  Sat 11^th.

As  a teenager the silky sound of the  Carpenters was just a little too smooth for me even though their songs were ubiquitous. As the years have unfolded, so has my appreciation of Karen and Richard.  Their ethereal vocals and mellifluous melodies have stood the rigorous test of time, leaving numerous classics of the pop era.

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The good news is that the Carpenters have a formidable canon of songs with most older people knowing not only all the songs,  but the words to all the songs too. The bad news is that Karen and Richard, and all around them were perfectionists. Before their first live concert tour in the US they hired the A&M soundstage  in Hollywood and rehearsed daily before they were happy with the live show.  Subsequently they had a knack of hiring the most talented session musicians for live recordings and touring. It is quite a challenge.

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They honed a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen’s contralto vocals with Richard’s harmonizing, arranging, and composition skills which spawned   three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100. They  sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

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Carole Gordon has the daunting task of delivering Karen’s lead vocals, the Blue Jeans band provide the accompaniment for a two hour show. All the hits are played,   Bacharach , Beatles  and country music medleys scoop up less familiar nuggets.  Carole is no stranger to the Garrick as a regular lead vocalist with the Forever in Blue Jeans company previously with her late husband , producer and band member Bob Newman. She and Bob had toured with Tammy Wynette. Her Country roots make her  a natural story teller in delivering the songs

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The band are terrific, particularly the multitalented local Burntwod girl, Rachel Cantrill whose dad, Johnny, has also been a regular on the Garrick stage with Lichfield Operatic and Musical Society . Ray Walker dazzles on lead guitar, his previous credits involve work with Don Everly and Roy Orbison. Gordon Goodwin’s work on bass is a delight, he has previously worked with Jeff Skunk Baxter of Steely Dan and Doobie Bros fame whose talents post rock and pop have made him one of the worlds experts on inter- continental ballistic nuclear missiles ( strange but true!). MD  Martyn  Cooper’s keyboards and direction are superb and the presence of   a saxophonist/ flautist testimony to their determination to present a full authentic sound. And what a sound!

Myself and Rachel Cantrill

“Every sha-la-la-la/Every whoa-ooh-whoa/Still shines” for the entire evening it was indeed  “Yesterday Once More” as they rolled through the Carpenters back catalogue combining precision with sensitivity. The opening overture, an instrumental medley, set a punishing early standard of musicianship which they maintained throughout the show

They even tackled “ Calling occupants of interplanetary craft” a song so preposterous in its ambition that Yes or Genesis would have been laughed out of a prog rock recording studio, but here it makes perfect sense and is an unexpected highlight. Carole took the trouble to declare that the show was not a look alike, or sound alike invention, instead it is an homage to the music which she delivers in considerable style with her ensemble. It is a heart-warming, delightful night out which drew a  well- deserved standing ovation from the appreciative full house. Do not miss it.

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Voice of the Heart is touring at a mix of holiday resorts and theatres for the rest of the year, upcoming in Hungerford, Lowestoft, Skegness and Minehead. You could book your holidays around their tour!

https://www.thecarpenterstour.co.uk/tour-dates

Gary Longden

After the purgatory of lockdown it was a joy to rediscover live theatre again.  The start of the year was still hamstrung by postponements and cancellations as Covid disrupted performances, three attempts to see “looking good Dead” starring Eastenders’ Adam Woodyatt were thwarted by cast illness.

For me, the year was dominated by some superb children’s shows.

At Derby Theatre– “The Emperors New Clothes” was a brilliant, seditious reimagining of the story as a parable on Fake News

At Birmingham rep – “Jack and the beanstalk” was the best preschool  show I have ever seen with a single set, a cast of three and talent and imagination to burn.

The modern jukebox musical continues to evolve.

At Birmingham Rep  “the King of Reggae” a musical of the music of Bob Marley with a narrated connecting story opened new possibilities for the genre, part concert/ part history and a fabulous  musical score.

At Wolverhampton Grand “ the  Cher show Musical revue” used three Chers to cover the singers’  career narrating their own section, yet interacting  with others in a case of timeslip. The music was terrific, the story compelling.

Drama shone too.

At the Alexandra Theatre Birmingham, “Fatal attraction” shrugged off the shackles of the film to become  a  strong contemporary   story. Kym Marsh shone in the role Glenn Close  made famous.

At Sutton Coldfield’s amateur Highbury theatre the cast created an intense juggernaut of a production of “The Strange case of Dr jekyll and Mr hyde.” A confined space and fine acting can create theatrical magic as happened here.

2023 now approaches with a full programme, behind the arras and myself will be there to bring them to you.

April 2022

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Like most, my introduction to this story was the eponymous 1980’s film blockbuster. It was not an obvious contender for a stage adaptation. However the original screenplay writer, James Dearden, revisits the original script to remould it both for the stage and contemporary sexual sensibilities, forty years later.

Since it was originally written two movements have gained prominence, #Metoo, and mental health. Neither have impacted here. This is the 1980’s reheated.

There is a current fad for casting twin leads from the same television soap. Last week it was EastEnders stars Adam Woodyatt and Laurie Brent in Looking Good Dead, this week it is Coronation Street stars Kym Marsh as vampy stalker Alex Forrest, originally played by Glenn Close, and Oliver Farnworth who has the considerable shoes of Michael Douglas to fill as Dan and is onstage almost all the time even changing costume there.

The original screenplay was drenched in sexual tension, the stage adaptation takes a more nuanced look at who any of us really are. Its West End stage debut was in 2014, so there has been some time for this adaptation to find its feet.

Farnworth convincingly agonises over the conflict between rational interpersonal relationship decisions, and the irrationality of lust and desire.

Although the artistic junior of the duo he puts in a very strong performance giving Marsh plenty to play off. The narrative arc of the original is pleasingly retained for the most part apart from a neat tweak to the denouement.

Footballers’ Wives actress Susie Amy, is a little irritating as Dan’s wife Beth and reacts to the iconic bunny boiling scene with curious reserve (please note that no pet rabbits were harmed in this production!) although it teeters on the edge of parody, drawing guffaws of laughter rather than gasps of horror.

Paul Englishby’s electronic score is memorable and lush, and very 1980s, reaffirming his place in the vanguard of modern composers, recent credits include Luther for TV and The Inheritance for stage.

Loveday Ingram’s direction leans too heavily on Kym Marsh’s coquettish charms, which are conspicuously on display leaving the supporting cast to have to pedal quite hard to establish their own presence. Ingram allows act one to crawl to a conclusion before act two finds a momentum with a satisfying climax

The metallic stage set by Morgan Large looked cheap and parsimonious, although video screens did facilitate the intelligent use of 21st century mobile phone technology.

For veterans from the audience for the original film, of whom the house overwhelmingly comprised, this was an enjoyable enough revisitation. The production was surprisingly strong and enjoyable, far better than some critics had previously suggested.

There was no mistaking the vigour with which the cast approached this performance ahead of an imminent cast change, with this our last chance to see the energetic Marsh, who leaves the production at the end of this week, 5 March, and will probably relish the opportunity not to have to undress before 8pm every night.

The show then continues its tour around the UK until 22 April, with Amy taking over the lead role of Alex, and Louise Redknapp joining the cast as Amy’s current character, Beth.

A typically challenging and interesting programme from Sutton Arts, taking in their annual Christmas panto, and their now traditional late spring musical, but with some surprises in between including  an  off the beaten track play, an uproarious   modern farces, and an evening of two  one act plays. Behind the arras.com will be there to report back! http://www.behindthearras.com

Robin hood and Babes in the wood- 3^rd -17^th Dec 2022 The traditional seasonal panto romp, always fun always popular, usually sold out.

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Flat out 26^th Jan – 4thfeb – by  Jennifer Selway .  Jennifer Selway’s new play, Flat Out, , is the quintessential definition of a farce in the grand tradition of Michael Frayn, Alan Ayckbourn, Brian Rix and Ray Cooney. It is  highly exaggerated, extravagant,  improbable and a lot of fun.

‘Set in a crumbling block of South Kensington flats overrun by mice and scheming property developers’, then ‘throw into the mix a cross-dressing neighbour, an overzealous cleaner’ and a myriad of seemingly strangers, you have ‘set up a perfect scenario for a modern day tale of adultery and mistaken identities’.

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A taste of Honey    16^th 25^th Mar –  by Shelagh Delaney . When her mother Helen runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with Jimmie, a sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas. Art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels. Shelagh Delaney’s ground-breaking British classic is a gritty depiction of working-class life in post-war Britain and an exhilarating portrayal of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the female spirit in a deprived and restless world.

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 An evening of two one act plays 24/4- 6/5

A double header in one evening

The Dumb Waiter – Harold Pinter The Dumb Waiter is a one-act play by Harold Pinter written in 1957.

“Small but perfectly formed, The Dumb Waiter might be considered the best of Harold Pinter’s early plays, more consistent than The Birthday Party and sharper than The Caretaker. It combines the classic characteristics of early Pinter – a paucity of information and an atmosphere of menace, working-class small-talk in a claustrophobic setting – with an oblique but palpable political edge and, in so doing, can be seen as containing the germ of Pinter’s entire dramatic oeuvre”.

“The Dumb Waiter is Pinter distilled – the very essence of a writer who tapped into our desire to seek out meaning, confront injustice and assert our individuality.

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This wide Night – Chole Moss, Chloe Moss’s study of two women finding their feet after prison takes time to find its emotional force

This Wide Night, a grim slice-of-life two-hander, featuring two ex-cons. Escapist holiday entertainment it is not.

First staged by Clean Break at London’s Soho theatre in 2008, Chloe Moss’s kitchen-sink drama is an unsentimental study of two women trying to find a place in the world after they’ve emerged from the prison system. One, is a former drug addict, prone to shoplifting and coerced into prostitution. The other, her old cellmate , was inside for murder and, at the age of 50, forlornly dreams of rebuilding her family and getting a job. Moss’s portrays people who society too often finds expendabl. Although they have paid their dues, you’d hardly call them rehabilitated. They are not defined by their crimes, but neither can they escape them. What sets them apart is their isolation.

As the play evolves , and we realise that their greatest dependency is not on drugs or alcohol but on each other, and their odd couple relationship begins to find its emotional force.

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Funny Girl – 22/6/ – 1/7 – An incredibly ambitious production not least because of Streisland’s association with the title role. Will Emily Armstrong be able to resist this one?

 Funny Girl tells the fascinating and bitter-sweet story of Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side , New York who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she’d never be a star, but her vocal talents and comedic ability see her rise from Brooklyn music hall singer to Broadway star, becoming one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway. Featuring some of the most iconic songs in film and theatre history, including “People” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade”, this dazzling musical classic made famous by Barbara Streisand is one not to be missed.

Jack and the  Beanstalk – The Door, Birmingham Rep theatre

*****

The Rep has not let us down this year with its Christmas offerings. The main house is presenting “Nativity the Musical” but in the smaller studio style theatre The Door , Jack and the Beanstalk plays,  aimed at pre school children ensuring that all age ranges in families  are being reached at the theatre this year, A fully dressed walk -way leading through to the auditorium from  the foyer instantly captured the interest of the youngsters with giant mushrooms, and netted  mock vegetation signalling that you are entering another world.

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This is  a Christmas show, not the pantomime, which has its roots in an English fairy tale. It  originally appeared as “The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean” in 1734 and as Benjamin Tabart’s morality tale;  “The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk” in 1807. Subsequently Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890). The origins of the tale go back some five thousand years. This gives any modern adaptation maximum flexibility.

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Katherine Chandler wrote and adapted this production.  She has re evaluated the story without reimagining the values. Bravely, the cast invited some of the youngest children  to sit on cushions  at the front of the stage for a full house Saturday afternoon , immersive show. The children loved recreating the sounds of the wind and the rain. They all knew the story, and what they were expecting to see, providing vibrant interjections testing the actors ad- libbing skills to the maximum. It was amusing that one of them thought calamari an essential ingredient for a feast!

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Chandler holds with the basic story. Central to this is Jack’s mum’s belief that  it is wrong to steal, and Jack’s dubious trade of a cow for some magic beans. The narrative is energetically directed by Caroline Wilkes alongside  a simple, bright set designed by Deborah Mingham.,With an inventive device, a fishing rod,  to create the beanstalk itself.

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The three strong cast is superb, Sam Butters as the hapless Jack, Dominic Rye as Cian, the latter two proving adept at playing the mandolin, all three can sing. But it is Nataylia Roni as Mum who shines brightest, compelling funny and wholesome with a fine voice.

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The morality side is gently handled and never sounds like preaching, Jack’s family in penury also captures the zeitgeist of contemporary England with food banks and unheated homes.

This intimate production is a masterclass in the world of make believe. Everyday items assume extraordinary shapes, a basket  becomes a cow and a  ball of string morphs into a Michelin man style puppet, and the giant genuinely scared  the youngest children. Adults and little people alike loved the chance to chant “Fee fo fi Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman”- perhaps the hooded giant was a French footballer?  In a simply crafted land of make believe   it succeeds in enthralling  the young and old in the audience alike in one of the best pre- school age shows I have ever seen,  and  runs until Sat31st December.

*****

Quite simply this is the best theatrical  production of Jekyll and Hyde that I have ever seen.

This is not the first time that this story, originally a novella by  Robert Louis Stevenson,  first published in 1886 , has been presented as a play. It was  adapted for theatre in 1887 as a four-act play  by Thomas Russell Sullivan in collaboration with the actor Richard Mansfield.  Sullivan made several changes to the story; which in turn has evolved  in the many subsequent film, theatre,  and television versions .  This is an immense advantage for  Nick Lane, who has written this adaptation, offering him maximum leeway in fashioning the narrative  for a 21st century audience almost 140 years on.  Although a familiar tale, few have read the 1886 original anyway!

Stevenson  suffered ill health throughout his life  while he was writing. That experience was certainly manifested in this narrative. Furthermore  this adaptation takes inspiration from Lane’s own personal experiences. Injured by a car accident at the age of 26 that permanently damaged his neck and back, Lane imagines Jekyll as a physically weakened man who discovers a cure for his ailments, a cure that also unearths the darkest corners of his psyche.

Director Paul Steventon Marks works within the inevitable financial limitations of a suburban amateur theatrical production to eke the maximum out of every member of his production team creating a show of remarkable intensity as a result. Paul himself was responsible for the masks  which transform Jekyll, mike Lloyds vivid yet restrained lighting uses green to maximum effect and the costumes are of  consistently high and visually compelling standard . Richard irons, tony Reynolds and Libby slack deliver an ambient , period but eerie sound score which is atmospheric, but never intrusive. The set reeks of Gothic mystery almost bordering on Steampunk

Casting two actors as Jekyll and Hyde is good business for an amateur company, you create two lead roles eschew the challenges of onstage visual transformation and allow your cast to have a lot of fun as a result. Richard Constable  plays a neurotic schizophrenic  hand wringing madman very well, Steventon Marks has the most fun as Hyde  channelling   his inner Johnny Depp circa Pirates of the Caribbean as a masked, profane  murderous demon.

Yet it was Mariel Marcano-Olivier who stole the acting honours as  Eleanor, an adventuress and love interest for both Jekyll and lawyer  Gabriel Utterson (Phil Astle). Strutting her stuff in a striking fish tail maxi skirt and strapless  bodice, her long cape swept all before her as she oozed a smouldering sensuality.  The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde remains true to the spirit and themes of the original novella while offering contemporary audiences  a thoroughly modern new female lead character.

A talented supporting cast offer numerous memorable cameos, amongst them Jake Collyer as a detective, Rob Fusco as a politician, Carol Deakin as a prostitute and  Mathilda Jenson- Toft as Utterson’s sister.

The Production never sagged or slacked, with Lane’s script pacy  and brisk, and the cast bringing a century old story alive  with brio and energy , and runs until 10^th Dec.

****

This is the seventh consecutive pantomime produced by  Evolution productions for the Garrick, with an eighth already booked in for next Christmas, “Sleeping beauty”. This year the season is its longest ever, from 25^th Nov  through until 8^th Jan 2023 ,responding to strong advanced ticket demand.

Over the years , local boy/dame made good, Sam  Rabone from Sutton Coldfield, has secured an increasingly prominent part in the production. This year he not only stars as the Dame, Nurse Nellie, he also Directs. He is enormously experienced as well as prodigiously talented,   before the show we reminisced about when we both appeared in an amateur Panto some fifteen years ago. It is great to see local talent being given a chance, and prospering, nationally, and internationally in a fiercely competitive and unforgiving business.

Writer Paul Hendry is a literary  and media polymath with strings of professional panto productions to his name. He understands how pantomime works and is happy to sweat the formula whilst still reinvigorating it with modernity. I have been going to pantomime now for sixty years, but brought two excited five year  old boys,  Seth and Cody, panto first timers, to ensure that I brought fresh ears and eyes to what was presented to us.

The story as we know it today has had three main incarnations. Its origins lie in  medieval folklore, laid out formally first by the  Grimm brothers in 1812, but popularised by Disney in their 1937 film. So fortunately there is a fair bit of dramatic latitude in what fresh productions can do with the story.

Rabone is the centrepiece of the show around which all else revolves. His Dame is not fey, effeminate or limp-wristed, eschewing their comic possibilities, instead  she is masculine and brash. He plays the part as a bloke in a dress, and the main joke teller, with a combination of expert timing, and apposite ad libs. Rabone chose Phil in the audience as her love interest for a running gag culminating in the audience chanting his name to be taken backstage.

Snow White is engagingly performed by Maria Conneely and a plausible love interest for suitor Prince Charming Daniel Breakwell (for whom ridicule is nothing to be scared of), but only just. Both sing well and combine mellifluously  during their duets.  

Lindsay Bennett Thompson gives Rabone stiff competition for star turn in her portrayal of  the Wicked Queen, a portrayal which was scarily convincing for our five year olds whom she had booing while the Dads were admiring her   comely black basque and taffeta skirt ensemble. Michael Palin makes a virtual video guest appearance via the magic mirror, as  does Liz Truss- although her moment was as brief as her premiership.

George Akid had a prominent supporting role as  Herman von Bad apple enjoying a role which enabled him to channel his inner Freddie mercury as he zipped through Queen’s greatest hits in the second half ably assisted by the dwarfs.

The  dance routines and movement  were of a consistently high standard making maximum use of the space the open set  afforded, courtesy of Helga  Wood,  who was also responsible for the brightly costumed  lavish wedding finale which  was given that extra wow facto by stunning middle eastern style wedding attire.

Apart from the Queen sequence, the barnstorming first half rendition of “Im a Believer” worked particularly well musically , ably supported by an energy filled ensemble.

This is a traditional pantomime stripped of risqué innuendo but stuffed full of good jokes and fun. Seth and Cody loved it as did the rest of the audience who gave the cast a  well deserved rousing ovation at the end for  a fine production , a credit to all involved.