The Snow Queen - Review - Northern Stage

The Snow Queen

Northern Stage

Thursday 5th December 

Sometimes you go to see a show and afterwards think to yourself, 'well that was something a bit special'. Northern Stage's production of The Snow Queen definitely falls into that category for me. Adapted by Laura Lindow and directed by Mark Calvert, this version of Hans Christian Andersen's fable certainly captures both the strange and beautiful elements of it perfectly.

There have been lots of different versions and interpretations of this classic story throughout the years, more recently being the inspiration for Walt Disney's Frozen.This adaptation tells of the townsfolk of Stifle, and as the name suggests they have barricaded themselves in behind a wall from the threat of the outside. They lead a restrictive way of life with very strict rules that must be followed in order to keep themselves protected from what peril lies beyond. 

The tale is of, and told by, Gerda (played by Lauren Waine) and the friendship she forms with a boy called Kai (Gregor Mackay); a newcomer to the school she attends. As their friendship grows and flourishes Kai starts to question all the rules and restrictions - why are they not allowed to speak openly of their hopes and wishes and what exactly is beyond the barricade?

One fateful night he speaks aloud of these things, climbs to where he shouldn't and he, along with other children of the town, goes missing. It is then that we enter the icy world of The Snow Queen. It is now up to Gerda, through her friendship and with strength and courage (and a snowglobe) to enter The Snow Queen's world and discover the fate of Kai and the others who are missing. Can she rescue them or will The Snow Queen get her wish of a perpetual winter?

What I loved about this show was that it felt magical throughout. It is a very lavish production, a

stunning set with the props the lighting the sounds all adding to the excitement. The stage is like a boardwalk with audience on opposite sides and it is used throughout to great effect. There is great energy from all the cast. Lots of lively singing and dancing making the tale being told a delight visually and musically.

Many members of the cast took turns in playing different instruments too. This I particularly enjoyed, the musical score played live upstairs on the stage. Described as rustic and folky, the music really fitted the vibe of the production. The puppetry was used really effectively and made the stage become even more alive, especially when the reindeer appears.

The costumes were great, very colourful and quirky. Special mention must go to The Snow Queen. As she became more powerful her costumes became more and more stunning and spectacular.

There is a mild danger element to the story, but lots of interesting characters and lots of fun, merriment and humour included in the show too (its suitable for the whole family, great for ages 5+) Particular mention must go to the schoolteacher and strict disciplinarian Elsie Orr (Paula Penman) who for me provided the biggest laughs and played her part brilliantly.

To find out if Gerda fulfills her dream of playing a musical solo, and if she succeeds in her quest to stop The Snow Queen's plan and save Kai and the missing children, to discover if the people of Stifle will have a happy Christmas….The Snow Queen is on until 4th January 2020. I thoroughly recommend a visit to see it. *Picture Credit: Pamela Raith Photography

Belinda Bekki-Winter

Cinderella - Review - People's Theatre

Cinderella
The People's Theatre
8th December 2018


Written by Philip Meeks
Directed by Emma Jane Richards

Panto season has started again, and this year The People's Theatre have returned to the old classic Cinderella for their seasonal offering. I first saw Cinderella here back in 2011 with Emma Jayne Richards in the title role. This year she is directing the show and though the basic formula is intact, there are one or two little tweaks to the recipe.



To begin with, the stage doesn't give much away - just the curtain with Cinderella in suitably sparkly letters (so we know what we're here to see!) I admit to be being a touch surprised. This is pretty bare, no hint of a town, no castle in the distance, no branches suggesting a creepy forest? Two doorways either side of the stage draped with pink swags are the only clues to the princessy tale about to unfold. But, oh when the lights go down and the music starts! It's like the build up to the Oscars with music that builds to a fanfare crescendo and lights that dance across the stage and up into the audience like fairy dust...searchlights beam across us, as if looking for the stars on the red carpet! And then a flash and a bang - we screech in surprise and laugh at ourselves as Fairy Moonglow (Lynn Huntley) appears to introduce the story. She doesn't have it all to herself though - her evil sister Countess Malady (Cat White) muscles in to break the bad news that she has just married Count Hardup (Roger Liddle)  and is now Cinderella's new mother. I can't help but feel parents should take more care when naming their supernatural offspring - calling a fairy "Malady" is just asking for trouble.  

You all know the story - Cinderella (Georgia White) is forced out of her place in the family by the new stepmother and the ugly sisters, Buttons (Joe Robson) loves her but she only likes him, a handsome prince comes to visit but swaps places with his manservant and is taken down a peg by Cinders and is immediately smitten by her. He arranges a ball, Cinders can't go, cue Fairy Godmother and pumpkins and glass slippers and romance till midnight. 


Thrown into the mix are the usual panto ingredients:
There are the cross-dressing dames - Calpolla and Covonia, played by Stephen Waller and Dan Dickinson - who bicker and bite their way through the show, arguing with each other, with Buttons, with the audience...with everyone and anyone, except the good looking guys, basically! These two pretty sisters(!) are living examples of why proper blending is SO important when applying your make-up. 
There are helpful woodland animals, played by the ensemble from Jill Errington School of Dance, and the scary haunted bedroom scene (so scary one little girl had to be taken out until the scene was safely over!) 
And of course there is the community singing which this year is the ubiquitous Baby Shark - you know it had to be in there somewhere!

The script is pretty standard, but nice touches that raise this up from standard panto fayre are the ensemble of footmen and Dandini (James Harvey), the prince's right hand man, who are a rather hipster troup, looking very smart in their frock coats and stockings. While Prince Charming (Nick Warneford) is a deliciously swaggering youth. There is a distinct tongue in cheek feel to their scenes and dance numbers. Director Emma Jane Richards has chosen to dispense with the tradition of having a female actor playing the leading man so both prince Charming and Dandini are played by male actors. Only the Dames remain in that traditional comedy role.    

The lynch pin of Cinderella is of course Buttons and Joe Robson does a sterling job of keeping the audience engaged and joining up the dots in the story. On Saturday he gave a mammoth performance clearly struggling with a seasonal bug, and had almost no voice by the end of the show. I hope someone had a hot whisky and lemon ready for him in the green room after the show!

Photo credit: Paula Smart

This is a very colourful, visual production, scenery is at a minimum but the costumes and lighting work to give a sumptuous and glamourous feel and the "awwhhh" factor comes with the young ensemble dancers who are beyond cute, and the real, tiny pony pulling the carriage is a lovely touch. It has everything you need for a sparkly Christmas treat for the family.

Cinderella plays until 16th December and booking midweek is recommended - the weekend shows are already sold out!

Denise Sparrowhawk

Snow White - Alun Armstrong Theatre - Review

Snow White
Alun Armstrong Theatre
15th Dec 2017

Directed by Lee Brannigan

My second foray into Pantoland this year took me to Stanley to the Alun Armstrong Theatre, for their in-house production of Snow White (the fairest panto of them all!).

At curtain up we meet the villain (villainess?), Queen Morgana of Cannyville. Once the boos have died down she sets the scene: you know the score, her kingdom is skint, the lucrative diamond mine is protected by magical dwarves and she can’t get her hands on the treasure, her step daughter is more beautiful than she, and the wealthy prince falls for her instead of the Queen. It’s the age old struggle, of good versus evil, true beauty versus vanity, greed versus generosity of spirit.

Will goodness and beauty prevail? Of course they will. But in order for that to happen we, the audience must be subjected to the gruelling ordeal of bad puns and awful jokes that is panto. And there are plenty of them! They come thick and fast from Nurse Bella and her son Muggles, and from the evil Morgana and her sidekick Seymour Snarl. There are puns to make you groan and jokes so bad your toes will curl - but of course this is what we expect, and the punchlines are eagerly anticipated and are cheered for and groaned at in equal measure.

As always Philip Meeks’ script is adapted to include local references - Beamish and Consett come under fire as does Stanley itself with references to The Big Asda and The Aldi that’s not even built yet (you can see both as you come into town). These local jokes always resonate with the audiences. We Brits are nothing if not willing to laugh at ourselves.

It’s not all about the jokes though - there is also the singing and dancing, the set and the costumes. The set is impressive - from the painted scenery of the castle, the forest and the dwarves’ cottage to the special effects with lighting and pyrotechnics, it creates a land of magic and mystery. Costumes are sumptuous - from Morgana’s dark and dramatic glamour, and Nurse Bella’s array of frocks for all occasions to the simplicity of Snow White and the villagers outfits, and the smart elegance of Charlie’s princley attire.

There are plenty of musical numbers to show off the singing talents of the cast, Sara Lumley has a fresh, light voice well suited to the character of Snow White, while Jon Dylan Brown’s solo shows why he graduated with a distinction in musical theatre! For me the showstopper is Andrea Atkinson’s rendition of Get the Party Started! She is fabulous, evil, but fabulous!

The dance routines, choreographed by Kathleen Knox are fresh and fun, and the ensemble and three principle dancers (Beth Shannon, Rachael Ward and Rhiane Finlay) work hard throughout the production. There must be some impressive fast changes going on back stage as they swap back and forth from village girl dirndls to skintight lycra and leotards.

Pantos are always full of over the top characters and this one is no exception. Lee Kyle is the archetypal best buddy, fall guy Muggles who garners the sympathy of the audience, while Martin Anderson as Seymour Snarl is the antithesis of this - he is brilliantly over the top with his shambling gate, gurning expression and elaborately obsequious grovelling. Neither of these can beat Bella Bluebell as Nurse Bella however, as she appears in an array of glorious frocks, hats and wigs. I think she must be the most glamorous Pantomine Dame ever, she certainly has better legs than most!

Interaction with the audience is great throughout but especially in the hilarious 12 Days of Christmas number. You have to experience it to beleive it. All I will say is, maybe take an umbrella or wear a mackintosh for the second act.

The programme says this is the theatre’s first pantomime and it’s a corker! The small cast work their socks off to create a panto that has more sparkle than Mr Sheen! And it has the voice of Alun Armstrong himself as The Mirror! It deserves a bigger audience so if you are looking for an outing this Christmas and are within driving distance of Stanley then book a ticket for this show. I came up from Hartlepool and it was worth every mile.

Snow White plays until 24th Dec. Tickets can be booked online at www.civichallstanley.co.uk or by phone on 01207 299110. It’s just £14 (£12 conc) or £38 for a family ticket.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Beauty and the Beast - Westovians Pier Pavilion - Review

Beauty and the Beast

Westovians at the Pier Pavilion
Jan 15th 2017

Eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning feels like a strange time to be coming to the theatre. And since for most people the Festive Season has been well and truly over for a good week at least, it feels even stranger to be coming to a Panto. We are all back at work and school with our noses to the grindstone and festive frivolity has been packed away. But not at the Pier Pavilion  in South Shields - here they are just getting started! The Christmas tree is still up in the foyer and the Beauty and the Beast is set and ready to go...Oh yes! It is!

This tale as old as time makes a passing reference to the Disney version (I suppose these days all fairy tales have to, despite the tightly bound performance rights) but it is very much its own tale. Writer Philip Meeks is accomplished at writing pantomimes that draw on the original tales and cock a polite snook at the establishment.

So we have the story of Jolieville, a french town under siege by a hideous monster, and an even more hideous and corrupt Mayoress. In the town there is a beautiful girl - Belle (french for beautiful) and of course she is beautiful inside and out as true heroines in Panto always are. Only she is able to see the good inside the Beast and she sets out to prove that he is not all bad and to save him from the curse he is under. She is aided and hindered in this endeavour by various comic characters - from her father the inept Professor Baguette to friends Bertie and his mother Dame Fifi Latrine. Naturally there are many hilarious puns and word plays derived from their ludicrous panto names, and a healthy mix of fart and pee jokes for the kids and smutty innuendo for the adults. There is magic that has gone wrong, a terrible curse that must be broken and an evil sorceress who must be vanquished before everyone can live happily ever after ( hope that hasn't spoilt the ending for you all - if you've not been to a panto before you may not realise that there is always a happy ever after - that is the whole point). There also always has to be a parade of increasingly bizarre frocks for the dame, a custard pie or two in the face, and lots of booing, hissing and screaming from the audience. Am happy to report that this panto has all of the above in shed-loads.

The cast execute the whole thing well - keeping the audience engaged against all the odds at times, battling against the noise of rustling sweet wrappers and fractious toddlers, to sing dance and joke their way through the plot. David Foster as Diablo and Erin Atack as Mme Bon Bon keep the story straight so the audience know that the Beast (Ty Roach) and Belle (Ashley Mitchell) are following the plan. Craig Richardson and Stephen Sullivan are the stars of the show as Bertie and Fifi Latrine, keeping the audience involved with jokes and banter throughout. In fact I think all pantos should introduce a karejoke contest from now on. The baddies of the show are Gary Manson and Annie Cairns as Claude and Camilla Parker-Bike and they are suitably booed as their nefarious deeds unfurl. That said, the high spot of the show for me has to be Mme Fifi's duet with Professor Baguette (Mark Lamb)- you just can't fight a feeling like that and you probably shouldn't try.

Staged traditionally in January to avoid competition with other theatres in the area - perhaps most notably the Customs House just down the road - the Westovians timing is a piece of genius. Nothing lifts your spirits so well as a room full of kids (and adults) screaming "he's behind you!" at a stage sporting a man dressed as a woman with a preposterous outfit and a huge hairy monster (now, now you smuttmeisters! What did you think I was going to say?). So if you are labouring under new year blues nip along to Shields for a couple of hours of belated festive fun.

Beauty and the Beast plays until Sat 21st Jan. Tickets can be bought from the box office tel 0191 456 0980. You could do worse than buy a ticket for this (seriously, it's worth it just to see the duet!)

Denise Sparrowhawk

Jack and The Beanstalk - Peoples Theatre - Review

Jack and The Beanstalk

People's Theatre

13th of December 2016  

The People's has recently gone through a makeover and the foyer is now more open and light which is a good thing. It's a work in progress but the signs are good.

So it’s Panto season (oh no it isn’t? Oh yes it is!) and thankfully it's behind me after I write this.

The show is based on the fairy-tale of Jack and the Beanstalk written by Philip Meeks. Fairy Alfalfa played by Rhiannon Wilson bounces onto the stage along with Sprout played by Daniel Magee (who did a fantastic welsh accent if I do say so myself) to give us the background to the story. We then meet Jack Trott played by Joe Robson, he has a friend called Simon the Pieman (have a guess what he makes?!) played by Nathan Hussain. Jack’s mother Nelly Trott was played by the Delightful Steve Robertson and his frocks were good (Spike wants them back when the show is finished!!)

The annoying and bratty Princess Mercedes was played by Alicia Lambert, and her older brother Prince Marmaduke by Stephen Waller who had a fantastic voice. The baddies Lord Fester and Lady Fangaria Fleshcreep were played by Craig Fairburn and Sara Jo Harrison who together did an amazing version of Bad by Michael Jackson.

Myrtle, The Giants Housekeeper. who we meet at the second act has a big secret (it brings the EastEnders intro out). The voice of Giant Bonecrunch was Ricky Alexander Shaw and there was a small part for Barbara Edmundson as the Princess's Maid.

This Panto had many bad puns and jokes within the script - most of them were terrible but that’s panto for you! (edit:oh yes it is! DS)  There was even a dancing cow (played by Laura and Jo Blackett).

The lighting was great and some of the songs were amazing but unfortunately a lot of the songs/singers were let down by the sound. The music was pre recorded and put through a computer and was set a bit too loud for some of the singers and it didn’t help that some of the soloists struggled to perform tonight. Hopefully the sound can be sorted out for other performances.

The Main cast where supported by a small chorus, Irish dancers from Clann Na Ngael Irish Dance Academy and a team of juniors and babes (I think it was Team B tonight). They all performed really well and added that cute factor to the performance.

This show is Great for kids (big kids and little kids) and adults as well. There is even the traditional sing-along song. Hopefully they will sort out the sound but if you like panto its got everything you'd expect and more. 

Jack and the Beanstalk plays until Sat 18th Dec - tickets can be booked via the website

Reuben Hiles

Grimm Tales - Peoples Theatre - Review

Grimm Tales
People's Theatre
13th Sept 2016

Grimm Tales is, as you might expect, a selection of stories from the Brothers Grimm. Fairy tales - tales of wicked witches, enchanted princes, evil stepmothers, of strange creatures, and lessons to be learned.

But these are not the sanitised stories we might have heard today. These short plays hark back to the original stories from the Brothers Grimm, so they are darker and more sinister, and in the case of "The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage" quite brutal! The wicked characters are truly wicked, selfish and cruel. Even the good characters are not all wholly good, some are weak and easily led, though some do have true innocence and purity and it is these who triumph.

Each story has a narrator who also takes up one or two character roles within tale. Each one has a distinct "narrator's voice" so it is easy to tell when they move from character to narrator. And the stories are told through a mix of narration and dramatic enactment.

There is no scenery. The only prop on stage is a plain wood block that serves as seat, bed, headstone. Scenes are created by the actors who stand to represent trees in the forest, or donne a costume to symbolise a change of scene. Very few props are used - some sticks for firewood, a stool, a handful of dust or pebbles, a mask and a sack of straw...Actors and audience must use their skill and imagination to envision the scenes.

Performed in the round with the audience on stage, it is a very intimate setting. The audience are close to the action and the narrator speaks directly to them - inviting them into the story as any storyteller would.

There is clever use of costumes and puppets to denote the different characters - especially where the narrator is doubling up as one or more characters. The fact that each tale has a different narrator's voice also works very well. And there are some grood performances from the young cast - notably Phoebe De'Ath as Gretel, Henry Freyne, as Hansel and Dummling, and Rheanne Boothroyd as the steadfast youngest daughter in the Lady and the Lion. The senior members Ian Willis, Eileen Davidson, Andrew De'Ath, and Karen Elliot do sterling work keeping the tales and the action moving, playing narrators and various wives, husbands witches and charming princes!

This is a charming play by the People's Youth Theatre. It covers 8 tales from the Brothers Grimm in just over an hour and so each one is quite a compact telling. While it may not have quite the finesse of previous productions, it is an imaginative, clever and carefully thought out solution to the challenge posed by the current building works for producing a studio play without a studio.

Grimm Tales runs until Sat 17th Sept and is great viewing as the nights begin to draw in.

Denise Sparrowhawk