THE CEMETERY CLUB
29th October – 3rd November 2007 By Ivan Menchell Directed by Will Harris
Comedy Three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. Ida is sweet tempered and ready to begin a new life, Lucille is a feisty embodiment of the girl who just wants to have fun, and Doris is priggish and judgmental, particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene. He meets the widows while visiting his wife’s grave. Doris and Lucille squash the budding romance between Sam and Ida. They are guilt stricken when this nearly breaks Ida's heart. "Funny, sweet tempered, moving" – Boston Globe.
Cast   Crew Ida Maggie Taverner   Set design Alan Croft Lucille Jan Robinson   Set Construction The Chipstead Players Doris Jennifer Catley   Construction Crew Sam Don Hindle   Stage Manager Jeff Stone Mildred Rosalind Heath   Lighting Graham House   Sound Jon Laws   Furniture & Set Dressing Clare Sparshatt & Rosie Bennett   Properties Pauline Beckley & Anne Hopkins   Wardrobe Delia Lord & Jane Bunner   Hair & Make-up Dolores Gerrard   Production Secretary Jennifer Catley   Assisted by   Linda Hall   Dialect coach Ian Akhurst   Production Assistant Margaret Ramsdale
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirror
The Cemetery Club is one of those clever plays that treats what is a very sad subject, widowhood, with humour and pathos. The three Jewish New York widows, Doris, Lucille and Ida, have been drawn together by the desire to visit their husbands’ graves once a month and tell the departed the latest gossip and news. Scenes alternate between Ida’s sitting room and the cemetery, the latter being created by a backdrop of New York and three tombstones. Pauline Beckley and Anne Hopkins in the prop department copied these from a Jewish cemetery. The accents were well replicated, with Ian Akhurst being used as voice coach, but Jennifer Catley had the toughest job, being brought in at the last moment to take over the part of Doris. She struggled to remember her lines, keep up the accent and project, but gave a great performance, portraying realistically the loyalty she felt to Abe and her belief that no other man could ever replace him. In the end she goes to join him forever under a new stone in the cemetery. Lucille, on the other hand, would love to find another man – now Harry is in the cemetery she at least knows where he is. The three women are all bridesmaids at their friend Thelma’s wedding. Delia Lord and Jane Bunner did a wonderful job on costumes for Jan Robinson as Lucille with her bridesmaid’s dress just that little bit tighter, cut away at the front and off the shoulder which made it different from the other two. A blonde wig and jewellery left no doubt that she was out to catch Kosher butcher Sam, who, thinking his romance with Ida was over, had brought along Mildred (Rosalind Heath). The women had become involved with Sam when they met him at the cemetery visiting the grave of his wife Myrna. Don Hindle was excellent as a lonely man troubled that he was being disloyal to his late wife. Maggie Taverner’s Ida was excellent. She portrayed a good show of conflict of emotions when the others wreck her friendship with Sam because they see it as a threat to their monthly ’treat’. The production featured superb direction by Will Harris and excellent set design by Alan Croft.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
13th – 15th September 2007 Devised and directed by the Senior Junior Committee (Alex Farquharson, Lizzie Fitzwater, Rhian Hayes & Tom Milsom) Choreographed by Lizzie & Suzie Fitzwater
Review A medley of music, dancing, singing and acting from throughout history produced, directed and performed by the older juniors of the Chipstead Players. From "Anything Goes" to "Rocky Horror" and with new material written and choreographed by the performers, this was a spectacular show!
Presenters   Crew Alex Marrow   Stage Manager Katharine Sparshatt Sarah Perry       Assisted by Mitchell Baldock,   Emma Green & Performers   Daisy Marsh Lucy Bennett   Lighting Rhian Hayes, Kelly Burke   Daniel Barr & Mary Burke   Charlie Bennett Alex Clark   Sound Kerry-Ann Radburn Alex Farquharson   Wardrobe & Makeup Anna Sparshatt & team Lizzie Fitzwater   Suzie Fitzwater   Special thanks to: Jacqui Burke Siân Hayes   John Fitzwater Becca Hollington   Nick Gane Jo Hollington   Roz Hayes Rosie Jones   Graham House James Mabbutt   Matthew Hurst-Smith Sarah Macdonald   Jonathan Laverock Grace Mander   Edwina Marrow Abigail Marrow   James Miller Ben Marrow   Neil Price Elspeth Marrow   Barbara Richardson Max Mayhew   Peter van Manen Tim Milsom   Vicky van Manen Will Palmer   Oli Robinson   Denholm Spurr   Gus van Manen   Harry van Manen
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirror
The Chipstead Players are extremely fortunate to have a Junior section so talented that many of them will soon be starring in the adult productions. Their revue, Blast From The Past, staged by actors from 11 to 18 showed a wide range of skills and also several with the same family names. Alex Marrow was a confident presenter, his sister Elspeth put over a very polished presentation of Non so Piu Cosa Son from The Marriage of Figaro, and Ben Marrow and Abigail Marrow took part in the sketches. The show was co-directed by Lizzie Fitzwater who was also a Choreographer with Suzie Fitzwater. There was a very slick presentation of Making Your Mind Up by Becca Hollington, Jo Hollington, James Mabbutt and Harry van Manen, good harmony and stage presentation. Gus van Manen and Ben Marrow were involved in a sketch where 3 members of the audience were invited onto the stage to take part in a short play by Will Palmer, who also took part. A large part of the audience were teenage age supporters of the actors, reacting very favourably to Max Mayhew and Oli Robinson on electric guitars in My Generation, over amplified and blasting out from a speaker on the edge of the stage (deafening in Row B!). The other presenter, Sarah Perry, very stylish in dress and high heels, spent much of the time between acts putting down Alex, until he showed he was a very confident saxophone player with Oli on bass and Elspeth on vocal in Crazy. Neither of the presenters were named in the programme, which was a pity as they were very good in what can be a difficult job. Cell Block Tango from Chicago was one of the best items in the show, 6 girls dancing, good choreography, excellent costumes and clever set. Harry van Manen played the man murdered by his lovers. As might be expected the two Choreographers, Lizzie and Suzie, were very polished in a modern ballet of Yesterday. There were some good sketches, some with involved plots like Seven Cream Jugs which required the cast to speak in the refined accents of the Victorian/Edwardian period gentry. Neil Price, Alex Clark, Oli, Max, Deholm Spurr and Jo managed the strangled vowels quite well. A smooth, well paced production and a great credit to The Chipstead Junior Players.
THÉRÈSE RAQUIN
16th – 21st July 2007 By Leslie Sands Directed by Debbie Mayhew
Thriller Thérèse’s affair with her husband’s best friend was a tale of retribution, sexual obsession and guilt in 1870’s Paris as told in Emil Zola’s book. As murder looms, this stage adaptation adds a special twist to Zola’s ending. "The play's impact refuses to be blunted by time or changing tastes." – Theatre Guide.
Cast   Crew Thérèse Kirsty Cunningham   Set design Graham House Laurent Lewis Wilmott   Set Construction David Franks & the Madame Raquin Maggie Taverner   Chipstead Players Camille Steve Jacobs   Construction Crew Grivet Geoff Thorn   Stage Manager Graham House Michaud Mel Morgan   Lighting & Sound Jonathan Laverock,     Kit Wisdom     Properties Delia Lord     Anne Thorn     Furniture & Clare Sparshatt       Set Dressing       Wardrobe The Chipstead Players     Wardrobe Team     Portrait Painting Pat King     Hair & Make Up Fay Whitmore     Prompt Laurene Henderson,     David Mills     Production Jo Hopkins,       Secretaries Mary Morgan
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirror
The 1967 book by Emile Zola from which this play is taken created several endings, but this one by Leslie Sands was very theatrically effective. The play is set in the living rooms over a haberdasher’s shop in Paris, where Madame Raquin lives with her son Camille and his wife Therese. Mother rules the roost while Thérèse is treated like a servant and is deeply unhappy. Her misery is relieved by her love affair with Laurent, an artist friend of her husband’s. The brilliant design, with décor which perfectly captured the period, suggests a bedroom only partially visible through a curtained archway, but enough to show the opening scene of Thérèse and her lover on the bed. A weekly game of dominoes introduces Dr. Grivet, well-played by Geoff Thorn, and retired detective Michaud. performed by Mel Morgan. It was a very convincing cast with each one a perfect characterisation of the rôle. Camille, played by Steve Jacobs, works as a railway clerk, has an irritating silly giggle, and is devoted to his mother. Madame Raquin, played by Maggie Taverner, is lame, dotes on her son, and shows no kindness to Thérèse. However, taverner’s rôle was the toughest in the play. She later has a stroke and is paralysed and in a wheelchair. Most of her actions are then a small movement of her head while her eyes follow everyone else. Kirsty Cunningham as Thérèse showed well the changes of mood, the passions, and later her hatred of Laurent. Lewis Wilmott brought out good changes in character as he went from secret lover, to murderer when he and Thérèse drown Camille in a faked boating accident, to furious rage when Thérèse drives him from her bed. Madame discovers that the couple murdered her son, but can’t tell Michaud. She starts to write to him, but loses the strength in her hand. Later, she manages to lift a knife and drive it into Thérèse’s back, but Laurent pulls it out just as the detective returns. The paralysed old woman can’t have done it so Laurent must be the murderer and is carted off to face the guillotine. A fantastic production, which also had wonderful furniture and props, and is a great credit to director Debbie Mayhew.
Review: By Diana Eccleston of The Croydon Advertiser
This story of suburban sex in 19th-century Paris caused a scandal when it was published in 1867, and the resultin notoriety haunted its author, Emile Zola, throughout his life. Extra-marital affairs are commonplace these days. What makes the tale so gripping is the murder that it involves. Thérèse is trapped in a tedious marriage to her sickly cousin Camille and amuses herself by conducting a torrid affair under his nose – and that of her mother-in-law – with Camille’s friend Laurent. Their passion leads them to murder, then marriage, and a terrible secret which has dire consequences for all the players. It’s gripping stuff and needs focussed characterisations with lots of simmering lust and explosive violence when the dam of tension bursts its banks. Debbie Mayhew’s production for Chipstead Players scored highly all round, the well-observed setting and costumes adding to the period mood. Kirsty Cunningham’s strong drama background was evident from her polished performance as the unhappy Thérèse. Lewis Wilmott may not have been an obvious choice for the rôle of her sexy artist lover but I was impressed by the way he developed the character and the skill with which he handled the man’s final, tragic outburst. Maggie Taverner was in command of manipulative Madama Raquin and exuded great stage presence from within the woman’s silen, stroke-induced prison. There was levity from Geoff Thorn as the old doctor and Mel Morgan as the retired policeman, especially funny when drunk, and Steve jacobs was suitably idiotic as the giggling fool Camille.
HOW THE OTHER HALF LOVES
29th May – 2nd June 2007 By Alan Ayckbourn Directed by Colin Edgerton
Farce Where were Bob and Fiona last night? His wife's suspicious. Her husband wonders why she forgot their anniversary. So they use another couple at work as an alibi. That'll work, provided they don't all meet up. They do?! "Farcical complications; a relentless comedy of perpetual deceptions." – New York Times.
Cast   Crew Frank Foster Nick Foster   Set design Alan Croft Fiona Foster Lauren Milsom   Set Construction Chris Catley, Bob Phillips Mike Strong     David Workman & the Teresa Phillips Lesley Parker     Chipstead Players William Featherstone Jeremy Taylor     Construction Crew Mary Featherstone Kate Perry   Stage Manager Jeff Stone   Lighting & Sound Graham House   Furniture Clare Sharshatt   Costumes Margaret Palmer,     Rosie Bennett &     Pamela Jarrad   Properties Pauline Beckley   Production Secretary Jennifer Catley   Production Assistant Ros Heath
Review: By Peter Steptoe of The Croydon Advertiser
The fact it was an Alan Ayckbourn play combined with a Chipstead Players' performance meant the 'house full' notice at the Courtyard was displayed midweek. Originally produced in the West End in 1970, this farce has stood the test of time and the cast did not disappoint. The playwright's presentational skills were enhanced under Colin Edgerton's direction. One set represented two dwellings distinguished by different coloured furniture. The elegant up-market accommodation of a Margo-type from The Good Life contrasting strongly with the slobbish flat of an office lothario with wife and child. Well-dressed Fiona Foster, elegantly played by Lauren Milsom, was having an unlikely affair with the flat dweller, Bob Phillips (Mike Strong). She had the excuse of husband Frank (Nick Foster) whose vague fixations on irrelevant subject matters were quite sublime. The affair was discovered by Bob's wife Teresa (Lesley Parker), whose aptitude for domestic duties and motherhood seemed non-existent, but she compensated by interfering in the imaginary marital difficulties of others. These others were William and Mary Featherstone, played by Jeremy Taylor and Kate Perry, who brilliantly performed the classic dining room scene taking place simultaneously at different tables on separate evenings, the changes being signalled by the swivelling of their chairs, the lighting changes and the dialogue. It was a true farce and the difficulties, real and imaginary, were eventually sorted out for the audience to go home content.
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirror
It was a brilliant idea by the Chipstead Players to revive one of Alan Ayckbourn’s early comedies at the Courtyard Theatre – and they were rewarded by full houses. How The Other Half Loves, written in 1970, and was a wonderful view of class structure and infidelity with an incredibly tough script. Directed by one of the Players’ masters of comedy, Colin Edgerton, it was played to perfection, set brilliantly and with a very believable cast. The set is however what makes the play work, two living rooms in two different houses, each with their own furniture and telephone, each having their own kitchen and front door, mingled together on the stage, yet having enough room for the actors to move in “their” part of the house. Each household cannot “see” the other family and moves must be plotted so they never touch, nor touch or appear to go round furniture in the other house. Then there is “style”, Frank Foster is the head of a firm, a lean athletic older man, fastidious, cultured and perfectly played by Nick Foster. His wife Fiona, cultured, beautifully dressed is well able to support her husband’s position (and the voice to go with it). A graceful, charming characterisation by Lauren Milsom, who is, however, desperately bored with her husband and seeks for more excitement with Bob Phillips, her husband’s manager. Mike Strong played Bob as a real slob, hard drinking, overweight man whose veneer of respectability wears off after an evening at the pub. His wife Teresa hates housework, struggles to bring up their child Ben, and is a bit careless about preparing food. For the big scene in the play, the dinner party, the soup is uneatable due to Benjy having sprayed it with air freshener, the chops are burnt and she forgot to cook the potatoes. Lesley Parker made this a very believable character. The dinner party is for newly promoted William Featherstone and his wife Mary, he having worked his way up into management, from the shop floor, due to his skill with figures. Jeremy Taylor had all the nuances of this type of rising employee to perfection, including dragging his slightly lower class wife up with him, now in a highly nervous state at going out to dinner with the boss. A fine performance by Kate Perry. The dinner party is played at an intermixed table, fine polished mahogany and silver for Frank, deal and tablecloth for Teresa. Two different evenings, so the Featherstones swing from one set of hosts to the other and two vastly different menus. Soft lights for the boss, bright ones for Teresa. Bob goes to the pub and comes back drunk and Teresa leaves him. An incredible mix up of misunderstanding of whom is having an affair with who, a wonderful set of intermixed styles, perfect costuming and a first class production.
CHARLOTTE’S WEB
19th – 21st April 2007 By Joseph Robinette Directed by Barbara & Alex Richardson
A musical play for children Charlotte’s a spider who can weave not only webs but words. Heroically, she comes to the aid of Wilbur Pig. Sounds familiar? E.B. White’s book is the best-selling children’s paperback of all time – now transposed to the stage. "A classic tale dealing with the ever-changing circle of life." – Talkin’ Broadway.
Cast   Crew Charlotte – a spider Mary Burke   Set design Alex Richardson Wilbur – a pig Gus van Manen   Set Design Assistant Josie Searle Fern Arable Katie Milsom   Wardrobe Pat Andrews & John Arable Lewis Hayes     Abbey Fegent Martha Arable Rachel Reeve   Stage Manager Katie Workman Avery Arable Lewis Khan   Asst. Stage Manager Alex Farquharson Homer Zuckerman Samuel Burki   Set Construction Nick Gane & the Edith Zuckerman Molly Hopkins   Chipstead Players Lurvy Jason Bird   Construction Crew Templeton – a rat Robert Bradshaw   Sound Kerry-Ann Radburn Owl Kelly Burke   Lighting Kit Wisdom & Bat Azza-Amali Clarke   Jonathan Laverock Goose Amy Pinder-Hales   Properties Holly Whitmore & Gander Josh Morris   Tracy Allen Lamb Annie Searle   Make-up Fay Whitmore Sheep Ben Marrow   Prompt Rebecca Hollington   Production Vicky van Manen &     Secretaries Edwina Marrow   Backstage Crew Barnaby Pearson     Michael Newman     James Mabbutt
Review: By Peter Steptoe of The Croydon Advertiser
Chipstead Players have a strong junior section that was ideally suited to this musical play. Their enjoyment in performing was obvious and they had no fear of failure. The plot was based on the children’s book by US author E.B. White and concerns a farm girl called Fern and the runt of the litter, a pig called Wilbur. Fern’s dad wants to kill him but after much persuasion he is kept as a pet and then sold to uncle Homer Zuckerman who agrees to fatten him up. Wilbur’s home is a barn and he finds a new friend in Charlotte the spider and when humans were not present, geese, lambs and a rat could speak fluent English. Wilbur himself becomes quite articulate when told by the sheep that he is being fattened up before being made into bacon. You would think that for sufferers of arachnophobia this would be a play to avoid, yet such was the charm of Mary Burke as Charlotte the spider and Wilbur (Gus van Manen) as a handsome prince porkling that these fears are dissipated. There was a magnificent rope web of titanic construction and an elegant spider slide for arachnid entry. The costumes indicated the animal types and we laughed at the tremulous sheep speech of Ben Marrow and Annie Searle. We all loved the provocative fluttering eyelashes of Amy Pinder-Hales as Goose and the repetitive honkings of Josh Morris as Gander. My own favourite costumes were Kelly Burke as Owl and Azza-Amali Clarke as Bat. The family had a harder task in keeping the plot on the boil and they looked the part in their ‘best mid–western clothes’. Katie Milsom as Fern Arable and Lewis Hayes, Rachel Reeve and Lewis Khan played the family. Samuel Burki and Molly Hopkins were her uncle and aunt and all had spendid US accents. For directors Alex and Barbara Richardson this was obviously a labour of love and my only criticism is that with so many comings and goings there were some delays in entrances. This was the first night and represented only a very small hiccup in a lovely evening.
THE ANNIVERSARY
26th February – 3rd March 2007 By Bill MacIllwraith Directed by Jerry Phillips
Tense Drama It's Mum’s 40th wedding anniversary. Her husband’s long dead, but there’s no escaping the celebrations for her three sons, who work in the family’s cowboy building firm. Except today, there’s a nasty surprise in store. "Stinging, grotesque and very funny. A study of the tortures endured and inflicted in family life." - The Times.
Cast   Crew Tom Will Palmer   Set design Myles Ruffy Shirley Grace Hopkins   Stage Manager Alan Croft Henry Michael Stroud   Construction Alan Croft & The Chipstead Terry Mark Pendry     Players Construction Crew Karen Katie Phillips   Lighting John Gallagher Mum Maggie May   Sound Jon Laws   Costumes Margaret Rumsdale &     Jane Bunner   Properties Margaret Palmer   Production Secretary Ida Bradley   Production Assistant Sharon Radburn
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirror
It’s amazing how The Anniversary, The Chipstead Players’ latest production, is so current despite having been first staged 40 years ago. The story of a very dodgy East End building firm, run by a widow and her three sons, was right up to date, with a house built without a damp proof course and another with the kitchen floor missing, which could easily have been an item out of Watchdog. Mum is an evil scheming tyrant who keeps her sons firmly under her thumb and is a role that has been played in the past by Bette Davis (film, 1967) and Sheila Hancock in 2005. Although one son, Terry, has managed to get married and have five children, he is never allowed to get far away from his mother’s warped brand of protective love that leaves her sons emotionally stunted. Each time Tom brings home a girl he wishes to marry, his mother, with scorn and innuendo, destroys the relationship. No fear of Henry brining home a girl – his ‘hobby’ is stealing women’s clothing from washing lines and dressing up in it. Maggie May was absolutely brilliant in the role of Mum, destroying all of her sons’ confidence, blackmailing them to do what she wants and using every trick to get her own way. A fantastically realistic performance, set on the occasion for the family gathering, the anniversary of her husband’s death. Tom, a fine performance by Will Palmer, brought home Shirley, the girl he intends to marry, but, an added lever against Mum, two months pregnant with his child. Despite all his past being raked up to try and turn Shirley against him, he fights back and wins. Shirley, a wonderful characterisation by Grace Hopkins, is almost beaten down under the attacks, rallies and fights. Her line of assault, the way Mum couldn't look her in the eye, was shattered however because one of them was glass due to an accident. Terry being careless with an air pistol as a boy was one of her holds over him. Mark Pendry’s Terry was a masterpiece in body language. Every squirm as he was taunted by his mother, bullied by his wife to stand up to her, was brilliant. He has dared to tell Mum that they are emigrating to canada and she uses every trick in the book to make him stay in the firm. Katy Phillips, trying to put some backbone into her husband, was terrific, with just the right costume, minidress and black boots, in contrast to the more demure Shirley in a fluffy pink and white dress with white stockings. Of all the brothers having to show their emotions without words, the Henry of Michael Stroud was superb. Found out trying Shirley’s undies in her bedroom (while she is downstairs), then raiding a clothesline and nearly getting caught, his embarrassment and demeanour were brilliant. Accents throughout were just right, a shade above Cockney, a distinct shade of the East End coming through. The set was superb, striped wallpaper all the rage a few years ago, beautiful cornice and good wall bracket lights. Tom, being the electrician, demonstrates to Shirley that he has all the curtains remotely controlled, but the table light needed a few thumps on the floor before it would come on. Congratulations to Jerry Phillips for his fine direction.
ALADDIN
3rd–7th & 10th–13th January 2007 By John Morley Directed by Ian Brown
Traditional panto A palace that flies to Egypt, adventures with a sinister Mummy and a Ghost, a haughty spirit and a hint of Ali-Baba – this is a comedy adventure. And then there’s the magic show. Oh, and the sloshing laundry scene. "A gem by the doyen of pantomime writers" – DSP News.
Cast Aladdin Rebecca Hollington Princess Emily Evans Abanazar Chris Evans Widow Twankey Geoff Thorn Wishee Washee Harry van Manen Emperor Chop Suey Denholm Spurr Empress Dragona the 13th Joanna Hollington Inspector Bamboo Roy Pearson Sergeant Typhoo Sarah Pearson Madam Flash Bang Vicky van Manen Genie Peter van Manen Mummy Kerry-Ann Radburn Spirit of the Ring Elayne Teague Chow-Mein Vizier Will Palmer Prince Pekoe James Mabbutt Strong Pong Jonathan Land Rick Shaw Katherine Sparshatt So Shi Suzie Fitzwater Sing Hi Emma Green Music & Choreography Musical Director Jacqui Burke Choreographer Barbara Richardson Piano John Collis Percussion Tom Milsom Crew Set design & Stage Manager Mel Morgan Assistant Stage Manager Colin Edgerton Set Construction Mel Morgan & the Chipstead Players Construction Crew Scenic Artist Pat King Lighting John Fitzwater & Lorraine Fitzwater Sound Jon Laws & Sharon Radburn Props Jean Pinder-Hales, Mary Morgan, Clare Sparshatt &   Anne Thorn Wardrobe Anne Franks, Pat Andrews, Eileen Gibbs, Ros Hayes, &   Liz Lockhart-Mure Make-up Grace Hopkins & Fay Whitmore Prompt Lawrence Henderson Production Secretaries Sue Searle, Beverley Clark & Jo Hopkins ……… with assistance from many other members of The Chipstead Players
Review: By Derrick Graham of The Surrey Mirrior
Chipstead is extremely fortunate to have The Courtyard Theatre in the village. This small, intimate auditorium has seats stretching down almost onto the stage, first class lighting and sound, and a super bar. The Chipstead Players also have a flourishing junior section and the annual pantomime gives them a chance to show off all their stage skills to friends and family – and also ensures a full theatre. Reviewing a production on the first night has the advantage that it’s all very fresh and spontaneous, sometimes more than the director intended. It therefore says much for this first night of Aladdin that it had been polished to being faultless by the cast. The junior members making up the all-singing, all-dancing chorus, boys and girls, were also excellent. Despite some magnificent Chinese moustaches and excellent acting, Denholm Spurr as Emperor Chop Suey and Will Palmer as his Vizier needed more make-up to ’age’ them to their parts. This showed up in playing opposite the Empress, the magnificent Joanna Hollington, who specialises in playing bossy older women. Her singing voice was used to great effect in a satire of the selection of Maria for The Sound of Music. The other actor with great projection was Chris Evans, whose Abanazar was outstandingly wicked, superbly costumed and actually did real conjuring tricks to entertain the court. He tricked the handsome/beautiful Aladdin into the cave of jewels (impressive sliding rock) with an excellent interior complete with small dancing diamonds and tiny rats. Rebecca Hollington was Aladdin, paired with the beautiful princess played by Emily Evans. This is the panto with the most famous dame role, that of Widow Twankey, convincingly portrayed by Geoff Thorn. It was a brilliant performance, better than many of the professional panto dames seen this year. As well as being Aladdin’s mother, she also has a son, Wishee Washee, a good comedy role by Harry van Manen. The laundry set was excellent with rows of cleverly operated washing machines, but the water spraying of the audience was not appreciated by everyone, especially your reviewer who ended up with a soggy programme and notes. Roy and Sarah Pearson made a pair of super comedy cops driving a supermarket trolley squad car complete with blue flashing light. Sets and props were brilliant and the strobe lighting was effective for a chase. The keyboard and drums were located on the side gallery (John Collis and Tom Milsom) – a good position except being closer to the audience, they sometimes drowned out the quieter singers. The direction by Ian Brown, especially for a first night, was excellent. Musical director Jacqui Burke had done a great job with some very small voices and choreographer Barbara Richardson had them all dancing, even the small boys, impressively.