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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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It's panto time . . . oh yes it is
Samuel Hopkins as Ali, Tony O'Hagan as Fatima, David Hirst as Sultan Pepper and Gemma Underwood as Rose Ali Baba Hall Green Little Theatre *** PANTO is a
peculiarly British institution. Ideally it should have jokes which have
had time to, should we say, mature Then ideally it should have some corn, and Hall
Green at times managed to rival the Jolly Green Giant in that department
with the wait, Rose and shopping line - wait, Rose . . . Waitrose
Geddit! – a particularly fine example which would make any audience
groan . . . once it had been explained of course. Then there is a need for silliness, a little
slapstick - although Ali Baba was a bit light in that department – lines
so puerile they would be rejected by an intellectually challenged
cracker joke writer and a plot so thin it should be treated for
anorexia. And Hall Green managed to tick pretty well all
the boxes as well as finding plenty of, probably, unintentional laughs
and moments which had sections of the audience in stitches. Which is perhaps another feature of panto by
amateur theatre groups. It gives large numbers of members, 19 in this
case, a chance to appear in a production with many able to let their
hair down a little from more demanding serious roles. It is also a chance for other members, friends
and relatives to come along and support, cheer, take the micky and
generally have a laugh with even the slightest error, and, from long
experience on the spotlit side of the footlights, panto does tend
to breed whole armies of mistakes, creating a gold plated excuse for
hoots of laughter. A wrong sound effect in a dramatic production,
for example, is a mistake that is noticed by an audience and can prey on
the minds of actors. In panto, as here, in the right hands it is an
extra laugh. For Tony O'Hagan as the roly-poly dame Fatima Baba it was a
Godsend turning a mild titter at best about a plumbing job if it had
been perfect into a belly laugh when it was all wrong and he milked it,
and pretty well every other line he had, for all it was worth. Set against him was the – boo, hiss – baddie
Musthavcash played by Dean Taylor who also wrote and directed and who,
to be fair, seems to have too much of a twinkle about him to be a really
convincing villain, but this is panto, so what the heck. Another panto staple is the comic duo and Amanda
Grant as Wasim and Richard Allen as Isim grew into their roles as the
night went on although Isim was one of a number who need to curb their
enthusiasm for getting lines out as fast as they can and to listen
before they speak. Timing is both instinct and being aware of your
audience and if they are laughing, for whatever reason, wait for the ebb
or your lines are forever lost to posterity.
David Hirst was an imperious as Sultan Pepper –
geddit! – and his Wazir Daniel Robert Beaton should take a bow for
knowing the steps of all the dances he was involved in while
Princesss Shesima, pet, could give Cheryl Cole a run for her money – in
both looks and accent when she runs the Baghdad's Got Talent contest. Marie White had the most difficult job of the night - remembering her name, Satimaluenta Navagalina - or you could call her Sat Nav for short. Perhaps more or less could have been made of that particular line of jokes. The love interest – and every panto has to have a
hint of it – comes from Samuel Hopkins as Ali Baba, a sort of Baghdad
Rodders , and their servant girl Rose, Gemma Underwood, who is let go as
the Baba family downsizes, management speak for getting rid of her
to save money. Rose is then captured by Musthavcash so she can
be rescued by Ali on their way towards living happily ever after. Old Musthav's hideout has the obligatory cave
with the open sesame boulder blocking the entrance and one of the
biggest laughs of the night came when the two palace guards, Tim Wright
and Connor Grant, were captured and imprisoned in the cave – and were
then seen crawling off stage in the background then crawling back a few
minutes later when they were rescued. Whether it was intentional or not who cares, a
laugh is a laugh, so keep it in. Through it all where the Stars of the show though are Kiara Peaches Mackay
and Rachael Louise Pickard as Camila, the brilliant camel. You would think it was the real thing, well
actually you wouldn't, but it is highly imaginative Bactrian camel, two
people, two heads, two humps . . . starting to get the picture . . .
which has a lovely head and provides enough laughs to earn its corn so
full marks to Carmen Burkett and Louise Price for the costumes. Bactrian camels are not actually found in Arabia
but we will forgive that because Camila had a certain charm and that
perhaps goes for the whole show from Mel Hulme's set designs to
excellent music from Geddes Cureton and Roy Palmer It is not sophisticated, in unison is not
something that is uppermost in the mind when it comes to the chorus
numbers, it has bad jokes, daft lines and patter that would make a
corpse groan, but it is full of enthusiasm, it is fun and, hey, it's not
Shakespeare - it's panto. Roger Clarke |
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