PANTOMIME REVIEW: Dick Whittington - Parr Hall, Warrington.

It's panto time again.... oh yes it is! Christmas may well be 'behind you', but the fun and games have only just started at Warrington's Parr Hall. Friday night may be music night elsewhere, but here it was the opening night of their traditional pantomime, 'Dick Whittington'.

With a truly traditional and lovely script [plenty for the kids and 'over-their-heads' adult jokes too] by Tom Rolfe (who also directed), this was one of the best books I have seen in a long while. A proper Principal Boy, and the precious-object-in-the-corner routine being things which are rarely done in pantos these days.

The panto's opening was perhaps a little off-side: a large screen imitating a TV set with a 'Breaking News' broadcast by ex-PM Boris Johnson (a good Mickey-Take) but that particular joke fell flat simply becasue it went over the target audience's heads, and the sound levels were such that much of the speech was muffled and lost. However, once we got into the panto proper, then the children couldn't get enough. This art-form is aimed primarily at the pre-teens and tweens, and they were joining in and becoming excited with everything on stage - just as it should be. There was even a lovely moment with the Captain's Mate (Daniel Dean) who had a silly rhyme instead of a more traditional song-sheet where he had to ad-lib with three young audience members on stage, and he handled this expertly.

Amy Thompson played Dick Whittington with an air of confidence and swaggery that only a Principal Boy can carry off, whilst his love interest, Alice was the personable Amy Leek. Mark Newell's Dame Fitzwarren was pitched somewhere between a drag act and a gruff butch man which worked well for him and he obviously knew his way around the genre, making the most of his stage time. Leo Atkin was a continually confused Captain, whilst the Good and Evil were represented here by Fairy Bowbells (Freya Ebbrell) and Queen Rat (Natalie Walton). Walton's characterisation was rather strange, as she seemed a little out of kilter with her being cast as an evil person. Her solo song in act 2 was lovely, proving that she had great stage presence and the best singing voice in the cast, and truly came into her own when she was told she had to be nice!

Dick's Cat and The Sultana of Morocco were performed (I can only assume) by two of the dancers, who this evening came from Felicia Burns Dancing Academy in Warrington, and filled the stage where required with choreography and ensemble.   

This was the opening night, and so there were a few things which were a little shaky. Once the cast have become more accustomed to working together and the show beds-in, I am sure it will be a much more cohesive and slick production. The sound levels and lighting were not quite right this evening either, as dialogue was mic'd too loudly and thus it became indistinct and blurry at times, whilst there wsa a rather strange use of 'specials' from the LX department. The choice of songs and dances were, despite being in keeping with the traditional nature of the show, perhaps, just a little too passee and downbeat for the modern generation to truly engage in. 

My slight concerns notwithstanding though, I have to say that this was a very enjoyable show, with a little bit of magic (courtesy of Captain's Mate Daniel Dean) thrown in for good measure. A truly family-friendly, child-oriented, joke-a-plenty show that is traditionally in the spirit of the genre. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 6.1.23