The Gidding Players' revival of Cinderella was the
place to be seen last Saturday night (16th March). A glittering
cast of 21, with Patrick Jarvis' burnished Buttons and David Shepherd
as the harbinger Herald, delivered a fun-packed evening at the Village
Hall.
The prompt was quickly put to sleep, as the cast
got into their stride with a story that sought to destroy a modern
paradise - a village where the mobile phone does not ring. As fairy
tales require, the peace of this ring-free-tone-zone prevailed despite
the worst endeavours of the Shylockian Taxman (Tony Scott) and a
delightful, domineering, debut by John Deval as Baroness Hangover.
The auditorium was packed - as was the compact stage,
especially when filled with the Ugly sisters, played with 'orrible,
originality and the antithesis of petiteness by Ian Stapleton and
Andrew Underwood. Ian's navel-hair combing technique left nothing
to be desired!
No ingredient was absent (if one misses out some
of the missing notes). Dandini was dazzlingly designer-dressed,
Prince Charming was, the congenital idiots were, and the Fairy Godmother
and her little wand were stars of the show. The Sedan Chair scene,
in which Jim Francis and Dusty Miller (who tried out 3 excellent
bits of parts for the price of one) transported Cinders to the Ball,
was a brilliant piece of pantomime business that had both its contents
and the audience shaking with laughter. Cinders, played with just
a touch of bucolic ad-libbing by Michelle McGregor, was a veritable
belle.
All in all, a night with something for everyone -
except, perhaps, my colleague from the wine column who is still
recovering from the libation that accompanied the excellent interval
buffet! The Director, Steve Smith, and all the cast and crew are
to be congratulated for furnishing us with fine evening. Let's hope
that it is not too long before the GGs ride again.
Report by John Pye
Cinderella is the most popular of Pantomimes, first
appearing as "The Story of Finetta the Cinder-Girl in a book
of fairy tales published in 1721. As a piece of theatre however
many journalists have predicted the demise of Pantomime for many
years. What a pity those doubters were not in the audience for The
Gidding Players adaptation of Cinderella.
The production had all the traditional fun, slap
stick humour, good versus bad, boys being girls, girls being boys,
plenty of audience participation and a show-stopping script re-write
which delighted the audience (you know who you are!).
The casting was superb with fairy tale look-a-likes
playing Cinders and Buttons, excellent thigh slapping principal
boys and the most ugly, ugly sisters ever to grace an amateur stage
(a special mention for Ermintrudes beard and the
combing of body hair by Hortense in Scene 1 !) The baroness also
proved a tour de force as a truly entrepreneurial modern woman looking
to make a fast pound from a mobile phone scam. Unfortunately, I
cannot mention the entire cast but no one can be singled out - all
the characters were played so well.
From the writing to performing, costumes, music,
lighting, scenery and front of house it was a tremendous community
effort, proving that a story began over 200 years ago can become
a topical, up to the minute piece of theatre which was obviously
as much fun to perform as to watch.
I left the Village Hall feeling that Pantomime in
The Giddings is alive, well and set for continued success for many
years to come OH YES IT IS !
Written by Catherine Jones
(A visiting thespian from beyond Winwick)
March 2002 Top |