Eight-Freestyle have been providing the community with a seasonal pantomime for the past 11 years, and this particular reviewer has had the pleasure of watching the vast majority of them over that time. Originally producing their pantos at The Dancehouse Theatre, they were much more a community affair back then. Now, in partnership with Manchester's Contact Theatre, the company have developed, but not necessarily progressed.
The traditional story of Cinderella had been kept, but the traditional idea of pantomime was given very much a back seat. Yes, the colourful, over-the-top costumes were present (although not nearly enough of them); yes, there were hundreds of corny jokes throughout, but sadly most of them did not land either due to poor delivery or being beyond the average audience knowledge; yes, there were a few of the age-old audience responses, but the cast hardly gave the audience chance or respect enough to acknowledge them; and yes, a couple of the standard traditional routines were presented this evening, but they were somewhat lacklustre. Even the scary ghost routine, when the audience came most alive by shouting at the cast, was negated by the cast more or less completely ignoring them.
Many of the usual faces were present again this year, as we welcomed Ryan Hall as Prince Charming, Steven Jackson as Baron Stoneybroke, Red Redmond as Buttons and was directed once again by Sean Canning.
The show utilised both an opening and act 2 opening sequence of CGI which served only to lengthen the show, whilst the actual set itself was amateurish and simplistic, built around the four-piece live band which played on stage, taking up much needed acting and dancing space. Whilst the steps to the various levels around the band looked quite treacherous.
Kate Mitchell quite simply stole the show with her no-nonsense Victoria Wood-esque northern Fairy Flo, whilst conversely, the two ugly sisters Verucca (Lady Bushra) and Herniya (Misty Chance) were insipid and as far removed from our idea of ugly sisters as it is possible to get. Their was no chemistry between them, and most unfortunately they were given at least two songs, and they simply did not have the voices to cope with them.
5 professional dancers were given the main dance routines with the principals, but children from local dancing schools (including Debut in Stockport) were given the chance to dance in many of the numbers too, and age for age, ability for ability, the youngsters outshone the adults.
Sound levels were for once good. The company has a track record of ear-piercingly loud music, so thankfully, that was not the case this year. However, the lighting design - or lack thereof - left a lot to be seen - or not seen as the case may be. The smoke machine was rather pathetic, and did not give the desired effect.
The whole cast needed to pick up on cues and tell the story, which, at the moment is not happening. There are long gaps between set pieces and the signposting of the story is very poor. Thankfully, we all already know it! The fourth wall also needs breaking down more, and the cast need to listen to and react with the audience more. They were wanting it, but sadly that fourth wall stayed in place throughout. Such a shame.
Hopefully, given time for this show to bed-in and fix the flaws, this will become a most entertaining and worthy addition to the festive entertainment calendar. However, as it stands, in all honesty and objectivity, this was not the best panto this company has produced, and I left feeling rather disappointed.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 10.12.23
on - 10.12.23
Tbh I thought it was brilliant
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