SNOW WHITE: Mansfield Palace till 6 January

Mansfield

SNOW WHITE

Palace Theatre To 6 January 2007
Mon-Sat 2pm, 10am some days, 7pm most days no performance 25 Dec, 1 Jan
BSL Signed 15 Dec 7pm 16 Dec 2pm
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
Performance times: 10am some days, 2pm everyday, 7.00pm most days.

TICKETS: 01623 633133
palacetheatre@mansfield.gov.uk
Review: Alan Geary: 8 December 2006

A disappointment in some respects but a lot of traditional fun nevertheless.
At the risk of being a Christmas kill-joy, you have to have reservations about this panto. It’s over-dominated by Su Pollard’s Wicked Queen, there’s no female Principal Boy or male Dame, and the music is altogether too loud.

Until she actually does dastardly deeds Pollard, whose voice is always at tiresomely full blast, doesn’t seem evil because she doesn’t project the stuff with her acting. This is probably because she has to take on some of the absent Dame’s dramatic function. But, of course, she can’t be Damish enough either: there are no outlandish dresses; there’s very little camp humour.

All that said, there are plenty of laughs, oodles of audience involvement, some great numbers from the Disney classic, on which this is over-reliant, and at least two superb routines. The first is a take on Mastermind by Muddles (Mark James) and Neville Greville, the Queen’s Henchman (Shaun Curry, by far the best actor in the show), the second a brilliant Twelve Days of Christmas skit involving Muddles, two of the villagers (Derek Andrews and Darren Brownley) and the audience.

Muddles, an innocent rotund figure in a jester’s outfit, with a chirpy tripe and onions accent, holds the show together. Whether he’s peddling corny gags, showering goodies or water into the audience, doing some shameless commercial advertising or relating to children on stage he’s always funny.

Rightly of course, Snow White herself is not at all sexy: Hollie Taylor achieves the perfect blend of prettiness, sweetness and, again, innocence. This, along with the absence of the traditional Principal Boy, makes it a disappointing evening for men in their forties.

In these PC days it’s a trifle odd to see The Seven Dwarfs done by real dwarfs but they provide some of the best moments of the show. They also give sensible middle-aged men an excuse to whistle 'Whistle While You Work' with impunity.

Wicked Queen: Su Pollard
Muddles: Mark James
Henchman: Shaun Curry
Snow White: Hollie Taylor
Prince: Simon Leigh
Dwarfs:
Danny Blackner
Tony Cooper
Andrew Inns
Binde Johal
Glynn Jones
Dean Whatton
Albert Wilkinson
Villagers:
Derek Andrews
Darren Brownley
Joanna Hickman
Nichola Lakin
Keighly Sharpe
Lisa Marie Wragg
Village Children:
Christine March School of Dance
Expressions Dance School

Director: Terry Morrison
Designer: Ian Wilson
Lighting: Dai Evans
Choreographer: Natalie Cleverley

2006-12-10 01:44:44