You can tell a lot about a pantomime long before it starts, and the first clue is usually the proscenium curtain. A shabby curtain often leads to a shabby show, so it is with great delight that I sit down in the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells and smile as the fabulously glittery letters of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs shine brightly in the spotlights. A first-class quality curtain – and a great indicator of what is to follow.
Quick-stepping her way to Tunbridge Wells directly from the Strictly Come Dancing studio, it is Head Judge, Shirley Ballas, who leads us into the action. In the first of a number of superb costumes, Shirley relishes the “hisses and boos” as she sets the scene, introduces us to the Magic Mirror (a superb cameo performance by Monty Python legend, Michael Palin) and leads us into the traditional opening song and dance number in The Village Scene.
The villagers (Grace Beazleigh, Rosie Revell, Harriette White, Jordan Cork, Connor Parkinson and Nathan J Stone) together with Snow White (Rhiannon Chesterman) power their way through the first of many complex dance routines with so much energy and drive that they make even the most difficult parts of Regan Shepherd’s choreography seem effortless.
After Muddles (Damian Patton) has encouraged the entire audience to join his “gang”, and tested that the volume of the shouting and screaming is sufficiently loud (It definitely is!!), we get to meet Nurse Nellie (Leon Craig). Dressed in one of Michael J Batchelor’s amazing creations, Nellie soon finds her “boyfriend” in the front row, sets the comedy bar very high and keeps it there for the rest of the performance!
Fresh from the national tour of The Addams Family, in which he is playing Gomez, Cameron Blakely takes on the role of Herman the Henchman – although it’s never really explained who it is that he’s assisting, as he prefers to concentrate on fulfilling his dream… Oh please, of course I’m not going to say what it is!
The devastatingly handsome Prince Charming is played by the devastatingly handsome Harrison Wilde, who joins the pantomime cast during a break from performing in the national tour of Chicago. After some heavy-duty thigh slapping, he reacquaints himself with Snow White and the familiar tale can begin.
It is a while before we meet the remaining seven members of the cast but, as soon as they parade through the auditorium and up onto the stage, the enthusiastic audience take each and every one of the seven straight to their hearts. Sarge (Brian Wheeler), Cheeky (Jack Hilton), Loopy (Paddy Holden), Sniffly (James Parnowski), Groover (Isaak Dalglish), Striker (Liam Roche) and Dave (Stijn Keuleers) all have the distinct personality traits that are indicated by their names, and look very much at home in both the diamond mine and their wonderfully cute forest cottage.
What follows is a cavalcade of all that makes pantomime so very entertaining for the entire family. There are superb songs, fantastically complex dance routines, bags and bags of comedy, seamless scene changes, top quality costumes and a story that flows well and works on every level.
No matter how dark things might look in the country right now, the unstoppable combination of Evolution Productions and the Assembly Hall Theatre team bring us a simply superb pantomime ensuring that, for a couple of hours at least, we manage to leave all that behind.
The title may be Snow White, but the Assembly Hall Theatre pantomime is pure theatrical gold!
***** Five Stars