The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich has hit upon a wonderful compromise to the current COVID situation. They are in a Tier 2 region, meaning they can at least perform live theatre providing they conform to the rightfully rigorous safety measures surrounding virus control, but they have written a special live theatre show which is intended also for streaming online broadcast and takes their virtual audience into constant consideration. It's a hybrid of a show, but actually in this regard works extremely well.
It also meant that I could, from the comfort of my own home in far away Manchester, sit and watch a production that under normal circumstances I wouldn't have had any chance at all of watching.
The Snow Queen, as a story though, really doesn't work as a panto. This became more and more obvious as the performance went along. It is much more of a fantasy adventure / romance for children, and here the panto elements of the show, such as a Dame, the traditional responses and routines, and a Buttons-style character had simply been shoe-horned in.
There was obviously a very tight budget with this show too. Completely understandable considering the terrible year the Arts have had; but it did sadly, lessen the impact of the production. There was a cast of 5 playing 8 roles for a start, and they all also doubled-up as the band too, meaning that when they were not actually multi-rolling, they also had to play the music as well. It worked, surprisingly better than I had first imagined it doing, but still, was absolutely not optimal. Whilst mentioning the music, then the show was muscially directed most ably by Ben Goddard; however, the show's title "A Rock N Roll Panto" it was not. Strictly speaking none of the songs sung in the show were 'Rock N Roll' but some came close, being Rock, Folk Rock or similar. However, the songs and style that are most associated with the Rock N Roll genre / era, were conspicuous in their absence. The majority of the songs in the show too, were not up-to-the-minute contempoarary numbers the children would immediately relate to, which was also a shame.
The director, Peter Rowe, made good use of the stage's two trap doors, and as tradition dictates, allowed the Stage Left trap to be used for Icicle and the evil, whilst Stage Right was used for the good fairy Primrose. Their dialogue too was written in rhyme - again in keeping with the genre's tradition - and the good-humoured banter between cast and audience, cast and cast, with the occasional ad-lib or stumble, was delightful. So far so good.
Dame Sigrid Smorgasbord (Steve Simmonds) presnted him (her) self as a very butch dame, with many of his hilarious puns not landing properly sadly; and his quite forceful domineering way didn't really endear, but the sexual innuendos were well placed and thankfully went over the heads of the very young ones. The best joke moment was when naming the huskies, and the final one was Boris!
Gerda (Lucy Wells) and Kay (Adam Langstaffe) worked well together, both having a pleasing manner and pleasant singing voice whilst Icicle (James Haggie) was suitably malevolent, his portrayal of the simple Simon made me laugh as his speaking voice sounded very much like Michael Crawford in 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em', whilst his singing voice was rich and sonorous. Natasha Lewis completed the cast ably playing both the fairy Primrose and The Snow Queen.
The set design (Barney George) worked well. First, two surtitle boards either side of the stage had been set up for those who were heard of hearing. A nice touch. And secondly, a large screen to the rear of the stage helped enormously in filling out other sets / locations etc which the small stage and static set could not supply, and filming the cast walking round Ipswich etc to localise the show was a great idea and worked superbly. I also got to see some sights of a county town I have yet to visit.
For me, though, the most noteworthy moment in this panto came from asking the virtual audience to find and have ready a hammer, since one would be needed in the show. At one point midway through, a camera and unseen cast member visited a real house, I am assuming in real time to ask them if they had the hammer to use in the show, which then appeared on stage and the household thanked for their help. I am not quite sure HOW they did this, but it was an excellent idea, working really well.
My overall impression of this particular production was very mixed I have to say. It wasn't quite panto, although much of the traditions of that genre had been included; however it was a very lively, light-hearted and fun show, but with more in-jokes and visual gags for the children, and a larger cast not doubling as musicians, it would have scored much higher.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 19/12/20
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