| Much Cheer, Great Choreography and Old Jokes |
Aberystwyth Pantomime |
| The Wardens- The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , January 22, 2012 |
“Shall I, boys and girls?” asks Richard Cheshire in the role of Robin Hood’s mother. He holds a can of wallpaper paste a few inches away from the head of Marcus Dobson’s Simple Simon. To his right Jess Jones’ Friar Tuck stands by Rob O’Malley’s Much the Miller’s Son. Tuck too holds a can of paste primed and ready. The wall-papering scene usually occurs towards the close of the Wardens annual show, its narrative pretext the castle’s preparation for the final wedding. Here, it occurs between two woodland scenes. Even Richard Cheshire admits it has small reason for being there other than for a bit of much-loved mayhem. Marcus Dobson is a considerable performer. One of his slithering falls really does look painful. The plots of the annual Wardens show- this their twenty-ninth- have been growing wilder by the year. This Robin Hood has a sub-plot of a magic crown- seen at the beginning, but never again- an attempt to poison two princelings and multiple kidnappings and escapes. The absent King Richard has no bad brother but David Blumfield’s Sheriff of Nottingham has acquired a mother, Morgana, in the form of Theresa Jones. No-one does an arching-eyebrowed sneer so well. But the part, as written, somewhat under-uses her gifts. She does get a rather good speech about how all the best ideas are hers and she is a better actor than her son. The plot also throws in Jasper the dog, zombies, a group of dancers from the Village People, and a magnificent ten foot high dragon, swiftly despatched by valiant Robin. The 2012 show has a cast of fifty-two and almost all are on stage for the first marketplace scene. In the hands of choreographer Carl Ryan and lighting designer Grant Barden it is a thrilling, high-energy spectacle. The quality of the choreography scores throughout. The classroom scene features split second movement from the class of unruly pupils. Julie McNicholls, unrecognisable with both a three-inch long prosthetic nose and chin, plays villain Hagwitch. Her replacement in virtue is Rachel Crane as the Enchantress of the Forest. Sensibly, the script soon lets her swap a spoken exposition for that glorious voice. She provides a highlight of the show later in “Go the Distance”. Rachel Crane is good in the role but as a performer she is capable of unleashing a true Dionysiac theatricality on stage. Role and script keep that quality in check here, which is a pity for us in the audience. One of the pleasures of the Wardens production is the opportunity to see new young players. In addition to Robin and Marion there is another love interest in the form of Will Scarlet and Betsy. Mari Fflur, Sam Futcher, Ciaran Lindley, Alex Macdonald-Smith and Marcus Dobson are all possessed of an easeful charm. In her big romantic number Jenny Boote looks utterly enraptured with her leading man. Huw Bates and Paul Ditch are welcome newcomers to the company as stooge villains Neil and Grovel. There is a piece of neat characterisation in that Grovel lacks the heart to be truly despicable and dastardly. David Blumfield unleashes his snarl of a greeting to us as “Ceredigion cretins.” “The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood” is a good pantomime. Some of the set pieces are truly great but the quality of the book lets it down. Old jokes come in two types. There are those that are old in a groaning sense and there are those that have died. I cited last month at Pontypridd the odd piece of out-of-use vocabulary. Here, there is a rare nod to modernity on the lines of “We used to rob the banks and now they rob us.” As a line it begs for the red pencil. The retailers on the 2012 high street are Poundland and Primark, the audience wears Animal. A line puns “Armani” with “Army and Navy”. The Army and Navy store chain is dead and so is the line. Aberystwyth possesses a small army of aspirant gag-writers. The company needs to seriously look at its script-making process and tap into this resource. “The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood” is filled with cheer and warmth and youth and the audience adores it. It's superior by far to the kind of TV celebrity-led show that I have seen. But ninety percent of the jokes should be put down. Comedy demands a pitilessness in its writing. With the talent on show it ought to be the best pantomime in Britain. There is an old adage about children and animals, never so true as here. The production rotates three groups of eleven children apiece over its run. Eluned Owen and Holly Stables are among the performers for the first Saturday. They may be small figures with corresponding vocal powers; in the confidence and self-possession with which they deliver their lines they are simply tremendous. Their enquiry as to whether Mrs Hood is Robin's great-grandmother is a treat. 11 January 2012 _____________________________________________ POSTSCRIPT A reviewer sees a show at a particular time and from a particular vantage point. By luck a sixteen-strong group from Rhayader arrives on the production’s last day minus one member of their party. I am able to grab the return ticket and see the show again. End seat, second row is a different place. The front of the stage is eight feet away and at the same height. That makes a much more physical experience. My field of vision can take in the pit and half the band. I see the percussionist blowing his kazoo. The conductor is laughing her head off at the “unpleasant pheasant present from a peasant” scene that opens Act Two. From this viewpoint I can see into the wings, but then I cannot see the set in full. The way in which the dancing is perceived is very different. The four or five rows of dancers in the ensemble scenes, behind the front eight, are only partially visible. But the snappy footwork from the leads is much closer. The seven women and one man are good, very good. They know who they are. But the programme does not name them, so nor can I. It is a different show, a tighter, fuller two and a half hours including interval. The second night review above is a good enough record, with one exception. The seventh paragraph is not what the show became. None of it is there. The show even rounds off with a better joke. The Sheriff is offered a possible new fate. Marriage is on offer. “What’s it to be, eh? Dame or dungeon?” “Dungeon!” exclaims David Blumfield, bolting offstage for his prison cell. There are several morals to this. The first is topicality. The kind of show that the Wardens represents does not strictly need topicality. But if is there, make it specific. The reference to Aberystwyth and its calamitous abandonment of parking regulation works very well. Secondly, brand names; nothing wrong with them but if they are not of the moment, delete them. A half dozen aged ones I noted have gone since the first night. But the real moral is either whack your script into a cast-iron shape, or more sensibly, don’t admit a reviewer until the fifth or sixth night. That is how it is at Theatr Clwyd and many others, and that is the advice to follow in 2013. “The Magical Adventures of Robin Hood” has attracted a bigger audience than ever before. It is deserved. The form that it has become has turned it into a five star show. The casting mainly has a generation gap between the goodies and the baddies. (Little John and Mrs Much are lively exceptions). The performances of the villains have grown in confidence and flamboyance. As for the eight or so young performers who have speaking or singing parts, the warmth in their playing is palpable and intoxicating. Maybe they are all joyous in natural temperament. Maybe it is the result of hard directorial attention, or maybe it is a blend of the whole lot. The Wardens does not do mid-week matinees. Average out the ages of the cast and it would come in at around twenty years. The creative team are professionals but their players are school kids, students, journalists. It must surely be unique for a show to boast a bevy of joke-cracking, singing solicitors. To manage that commitment, let alone a triple show on a Saturday; there is a kind of heroism to it. 22 January |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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