It was my pleasure to see the return of the panto by this wonderful group of village thespians, the Beeches Players of Isleham.
This self-written script, with many an additional add lib, gave the 14 strong cast much to learn and deliver but they did so with a passion and belief that had everyone laughing and singing.
Set in a decrepit theatre that the manager has to close all panto crew members have to be interviewed by the local job centre manager, but all is not what it seemed.
This civil servant turned out to be the evil Smellius Horribulus, the lifetime bete noire of the theatre owner.
She then proceeds to interview a rather ‘unique’ set of panto cast including Peter Pan, now unable to fly, with a beard and defiantly not an eternal child.
Then there is the Snow Queen, who is cold, Snow White, who is allergic to fur and feathers and a 6ft4 dwarf called Bashful.
The first half included amazing renditions of popular songs from the opening Be My Guest, through to Summer Lovin’ and a version of R Kelly, ‘I believe I can fly’
In the second half we met Kim and Aggie, not just ugly sisters, but cleaning fanatics, the Wicked Witch, who was nice to everyone and way too kind and the fairy godmother who no longer performed magic.
Smellius interviewed each one introducing further great numbers including, Money, Money Money, Could it be Magic, Reach for the Stars, and an epic face off version of I could do Better between the fabulous Kim and Aggie.
The whole show was wonderfully supported by a chorus in costumes and of a voice that would have graced much larger venues and budgets.
In the end the plot is foiled and all was well, but more than the expected results, the Beeches Players can stand proud of their first panto in The Beeches, Isleham, and more than 500 people that saw the shows can look forward again to a start of spring Isleham pantomime.
Well done to all involved and to all that were luck enough to see the show.
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