Blackmore's Got Panto!
Written by: Pauline Skerritt and Margaret Boreham
Directed by: Pauline Skerritt
January 2010
Have you ever wondered what happens to panto characters during the rest of the year? Oh yes you have! So come with us for a peek into Pantoland! where Dame Jemima Jollity struggles to look after the animals on her farm (with no help at all from her two sons, Idle Jack and Simple Simon). They and all the other the Panto People are ‘resting’, under the watchful gaze of Lord Mayor Dick Whittington (not forgetting his faithful cat), awaiting news of their next production from the magic Panto fairy. But this year she’s gone AWOL and her replacement, Fairy Nearly, isn’t quite up to the job, so the Panto People are enticed by the evil Programmer, Mr. Xavier Factor - ably assisted by his bungling sidekicks Flip and Heck - into the murky world of Reali-TV. Meanwhile, Mrs. Pushy is desperate to get her daughter Kylie turned into an overnight sensation but the girl herself just wants to appear on the stage. Will Fairy Nearly (with the help of her fairy friends, young and old) be able to rescue the panto people from their fate of horrific cookery competitions and jungle trips? Will Idle Jack stay awake long enough to get together with Kylie? Will we prove conclusively that live theatre beats TV every time? Oh yes we will!Cast List
Character
Actor
Fairy Nearly
Rosemarie Nelson
Dame Jemima Jollity
Keith Goody
Jack Jollity
Sandra Marriott
'Simples' Simon Jollity
Phil Davis
Lord Dick Whittington
Martin Herford
Tiddles the Cat
Glenys Young
Lightning
Sarah Taylor
Fairy Small
Jenny Pavitt
Mr Xavier Factor, The Programmer
Simon Haskell
Flip
Jim O'Sullivan
Heck
Linda Raymond
Mrs Pushy
Irene Davis
Kylie
Louise Masters
Bruvver
Jamie Marsh
Fairy Prima Donna
Linda Cearns
In Pantoland
Jean Appleton;Linda Cearns;Ann Doherty;Barbara Harrold;Mike Jefferyes;Barry Kirk;Jacqui Macdonald;Carol Riley;Tracy Slade;Ken Templey;Wendy Wetherill;Annabel Cakebread;Alice Haskell;Kirsten Stevens;
In the Jungle
Sarah ;Alice ;Annabel ;Jenny ;Kirsten ;
In Fairyland
Linda ;Barbara ;Barry ;Carol ;Jacqui ;Jean ;Sarah ;Tracy ;Wendy ;Alice ;Annabel ;Kirsten ;
Reviews
I am always impressed by those who are self-reliant, being fairly dependent on others myself. The ability to design, construct and paint scenery and make good quality costumes is wonderful but to write the script for your very own pantomime is something else again. Not only did this production include all the usual formulae expected in a pantomime - the dame, the stupid duo, principal boy and girl, love interest, pantomime horse, catchphrases, community singing, a UV scene, young children as fairies and animals and a baddie in black that we could boo and hiss at - but also the central theme was brought right up to date by using reality television as the driver for much of the plot. Using Pantoland as the backdrop for the pantomime characters was clever and allowed all members of the cast to have a character and a colourful costume. The rhyming couplets used by Fairy Nearly, as narrator, were witty and new but kept to the spirit of traditional pantomime. Some of the dialogue and stage business veered off-piste occasionally but probably worked successfully at both a child and adult level. This was an enjoyable modern take on the pantomime genre that could have been even more so had it been judiciously pruned by 30-40 minutes. There were no scenes that were extraneous but each scene could have been trimmed by 4-5 minutes, making for a pacier production. On many occasions I felt it was time to move on, the joke had been played out and yet there was one more verse or one more variation. Nevertheless, this was a strong production with a good cast. Time and space precludes a comprehensive review but all credit to Jack Jollity (Sandra Marriott) and "Simples" Simon (Phil Davis) who were consistently strong and audible throughout. I loved Mrs Pushy (Irene Davis) and Fairy Small (Jenny Pavitt) and thought Tiddles the cat (Glenys Young) did a fine job. Congratulations to all.Stewart Adkins, NODA