Puss in Boots Review by Linda Williams
SHADES
2018 pantomime Puss in Boots was a "purrfect" antidote to cold, dark
January nights and had audiences purring with delight! Audiences packed the
Arbuthnot Hall in Shamley Green on 25th, 26th and two
performances on 27th January 2018.
Based
on the traditional story, our anti-hero, Marcus Mills the Miller's son played
by Tasha Haycraft with dash and skill, falls for the beautiful Princess Fiona,
a charming Katie Haycraft. Both with lovely voices, their songs together were
excellent.
An
endearing and well-played Puss in Boots, Lucy Cumming, is given some magic
boots, which transform the cat into a talking and can do puss. She successfully
schemes to turn her penniless friend Marcus into the rich Marquis of Carabas by
killing the evil ogre, Charles Cumming, a truly frightening green, and winning
the hand of the beautiful princess.
Along
the way, we meet some great characters. Dame Millie Mills played in true Dame
style by JP Judson gave us lots of laughs. His sons Rufus and Dufus, brothers
to Marcus, performed very well as a comedy duo and gave us lots of laughs too.
Rufus played by Alfie Proctor as the intelligent brother to intellectually
challenged Dufus, Carl Harmer.
We were treated to another comedy duo, this
time a dastardly pair of villains Creeper, Donna Jones and Reaper, Rebecca
Varcoe. They both pulled out all the stops with their acting skills and singing
to give us two great creatures on the dark side. Joining team evil was Ron
Bailey reprising his iconic role as Igor.
No
pantomime is complete without a charming fairy and Sonia Chapman was a
sparkling Fairy Poppins. There was also some great character acting from Alex
Paris-Jones as the Shoemaker and Taxman. Peter Palmer and Diane Littlewood were
purrfect as the King and Queen of Shamley Green.
Special
mention should be made of the chorus of villagers, ghouls, guards, water nymphs
and courtiers played by Lynne Bramble, Abbie Mains, Ellie Morrice, Alex
Paris-Jones and Clare Stevens who sang and danced their way through the
pantomime with great gusto. Clare Stevens provided them with some admirable
choreography and kept the cast moving well.
Music
maestro Chris Snelling and percussionist Mark Stammers excelled as usual at the
musical numbers and wonderful costumes were provided by Marion Cozens.
Directors
and producers Clare Stevens, Diane Littlewood and Jan Cornwell did a great job
producing yet another slick and entertaining pantomime from Clare Truman's
excellent script.
Once
again SHADES will be giving a donation to Challengers, and would like to thank
the audiences for their support.
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