The Frog Prince
Written by: Allison Savory
Directed by: Alf Currey
January 2024
A pantomime full of thrills, laughter, romance, “it’s behind you” and lots of great music. That’s what you’ll enjoy when you come to see "The Frog Prince".
Set in the kingdom of Blackmore (of course), it’s the story of beautiful Princess Monica who has just come of age. Her father, the great and wise - but old - King Ned, wants her to find a husband to help out with royal duties. With this marriage will come great wealth, lands and power. On the eve of the celebration day, when suitors will be coming to show their suitability as a royal husband, Princess Monica meets handsome Prince Frederick and they fall in love.
But Tragedy! There’s an evil Baron who wants the Blackmore money, lands and power and he has seen Monica and Frederick meet. To stop their romance, he commands Sonia, the spiteful fairy, to turn Frederick into a frog. His only release will be a kiss from someone who truly loves him.
How can our Prince win his Princess? Does the Baron get his come-uppance? Does Edith, the castle cook ever get to bake a wedding cake? Does the king retire to watch his favourite TV programme? Do the goodies manage to save the day while the baddies put as many obstacles in their way as they can?
You’ll have to come along and see how the story unfolds.
Cast List
Reviews
It was lovely to be back at Blackmore after a few years absence, the Frog Prince is not a panto script that is seen very often so I was interested to see this performance.
Based on a Brothers Grimm tale, I thought that it might not really have enough robustness for a pantomime, but this was an interesting script. There were a number of traditional panto ‘gags’ woven into it and, although the actors worked hard, I did feel that there could have been more conviction in the delivery. If you are going to do panto gags, they need to be completely over the top and a quite manic.
I must compliment James Hughes for playing Punchy, this was like the traditional ‘Buttons’ or ‘Wishee Washee’ panto character and James was excellent, literally throwing himself into the performance. He lit up the stage when he was performing.
Keith Goody played Dame Edith as a traditional panto Dame, something that is becoming rarer these days. He worked the audience well, although to be honest, they were with the production from the start and there were many heckles that moved the show along!
Barbara Harrold played the part of Hetty delightfully and her duet with King Ned (Martin Herford) was lovely. Martin gave a good characterisation as the King. Tracy Mellor and Debbie Stevens played the two Ladies in Waiting well, congratulations to Debbie for stepping into the part at the last minute, very clever use of the picnic basket!
John Hughes (Lip) and Gary Jones (Lop) played the traditional henchmen, and it was different to see them being clever instead of stupid. A nice change! Joyce Stafford played Ada, a lovely characterisation, and a great foil for James’s Punchy.
Daisy Stevens played Princess Monica well, although her dialogue and song were, initially, difficult to hear as she did not really project enough. She did get louder as the show went on, so I suspect it was probably nerves. Holly Shelton played the Prince (and the Frog of course) a nice portrayal although she was far more lively as the Frog, than as the Prince, but perhaps that was deliberate.
Rhys Burrell was the evil Baron and he had the part well nailed, the audience booed him with gusto! Marcia Anderson played his sidekick, the evil Fairy Sonia. Her characterisation did vary a bit even before she became a ‘goodie’ maybe a little more conviction here would have been good.
Mike Jeffereys, Rosemarie Nelson, Janice Chissik and Tony Donnelly completed the cast, it is always nice to have everyone with named characters.
The costumes were, as always with this company, to a very high standard, congratulations to Rosemarie Nelson for bringing it all together with the support if the cast. Lighting and sound were good, sound effects were well timed.
The scenery, given the restraints of this venue, was excellent, I particularly liked the digital projection of the forest at night, very spooky.
Altogether a fun evening’s entertainment, thank you for your hospitality.
Tessa Davies, NODA