REVIEW: Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates - The Art Theatre, New Mills.

For anyone who has never been there before, it is worth a visit to New Mills just to see inside the theatre itself. A true old-style music hall from the Victorian age (complete with royal boxes), and at 500 seats capacity the venue is a real gem. It is very pleasing to see it still going strong after considerable maintenance work has been undertaken and all seats are soon to be upgraded, courtesy of Drury Lane Theatre.

‘Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates’ was presented as an in-house production and had a real community feel with the very large cast ranging from dancers clearly under the age of ten right up to actors of pensionable age. However, the overall feel of the show was remarkably tight and professional, the complex production was very slickly delivered all round.

It made a nice change to see a genuine pantomime which stepped outside of the box of the usual group Cinderella, Dick Whittington and the other six or seven stalwarts which get repeated every year. Alan Frayn had also taken some imaginative liberties with the Daniel Defoe classic, including the addition of a ghostly Davy Jones, played by Anthony Lambe (in a clear nod to the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' series) and Man Friday displaying remarkable eloquence. It has to be said that almost every pantomime standard in the book had been borrowed, from a girl playing principal boy to a slapstick cookery scene but this was, after all, billed as a traditional panto, aiming to be exactly what it said it was on the packet.

From the start, all the cast appeared to be having a good time and this enthusiasm was reciprocated by the audience, who bought into the occasional ribald jokes and clearly appreciated the songs, dancing and overall spectacle. The costuming was excellent, provided a blaze of colour throughout. The back screens were of a high standard with clever artistry giving real three-dimensional effects, together with a lot of attention to detail. This compensated for the minimalist staging, although some scenes, notably the ship deck and the jungle, had very good sets. Special credit must also be given to the sound and lighting who created some remarkably atmospheric effects.

Unlike certain professional pantos, the story, or at least the telling of it, was refreshingly not centred around two or three stars who almost never leave the stage. ‘Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates’ had something of an ensemble feel, with even the very youngest actors being given some high profile featuring. This gave the show a very balanced feel. The casting was very good with Stewart Bowden very much at home as Nutty Nick, to some extent acting an impresario, and Darren Cooper suitably villainous as Cut Throat the Pirate. The ‘Dame’ figure was ebulliently played by Pauline Rowe, Grace Tildsley as Juanita and notably amongst the younger members was Jack Hornsey as a very funny witch doctor called Hocus Pocus. Angela Hulme was memorable as ‘big mama’ tribal chief Mumbo Jumbo and Keith Wright, appearing to been brought in from ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ provided a gentle balance across the generations. Lisa Quin was well cast in the title role of Robinson, although her 
character was short changed when it came to funny lines.

‘Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates’ was a very, enjoyable show and had the feel of a big production. Well worth seeing as a treat for all the family and an excellent antidote for a cold, winter’s night.

Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 1/2/19