ALL AND Sundry have been staging pantomimes for almost 20 years in Bromsgrove and this year’s good vs evil offering was Robin Hood.
The show has another talented cast and plenty of opportunity for audience interaction.
Dressed in his trademark green outfit, it is up to Robin Hood to stand up for the poor against the baddies – Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John and Queen Arachnid.
King Richard is away and the Prince has designs on his crown by kidnapping the babes – Rosie and Jim.
Picture by Roy Miles. sKen Messenger (Friar Tuck), Judy Lane (Little John), Tina Andress (Alan-A-Dale) and Neil Lane (Will Scarlett) were solid as the merry men, supporting Robin in his quest to find the babes and defeat the Sheriff, Prince and Queen, as was Hayden Smith as King Richard.
Dave Healey and Sareh Feltham were great as the henchmen Bashem and Thumpem, bouncing off each other well on the stage and, although evil in the beginning, you could not help but love the characters and their comical escapades.
Oliver Higham did very well in his first panto outing, playing Hayrick. It is a difficult role to get the audience going and he took to it with plenty of confidence – I have no doubt we will see him in future A&S productions.
Laury Wiggins was wonderful as Maid Marion, particularly in her ‘Honey Honey’ solo in the first act and her duet with our hero in the second. She was all you wanted for Robin’s love interest.
Laura Cooney made for a great Pokem – the Sheriff’s sidekick. Although a baddie, you did feel a little bit sorry for her and the Sheriff’s treatment of her – all down to the way Cooney played it.
Picture by Roy Miles. sAnthony Madden and Daisy Yarnold were made for playing their Prince and Queen roles, looking down their noses at ‘the awful peasants and poor’. He with his comical stereotypical toff lisp and her with her look of disdain whenever she saw the villagers and audience with a joy to watch. She also performed a nice solo.
Graham Forbes always rises to the challenge of playing the villain, delighting in the confrontational exchanges with the crowd and earning the boos in return.
Zena Schtyk was fantastic as flabbergasted Fairy Fern who did not which panto she was supposed to be in and, likewise,
Helena Talbot and Xander and Feltham as the babes – they oozed confidence for a pair so young and had the ‘awwww factor’ everytime they came on stage. Their duet was probably the cutest moment of the whole performance.
Eva Derbyshire was superb as our hero Robin Hood – the character is somewhat egotistic (sometimes arrogant) so it can be taxing to ‘keep him lovable’. Derbyshire did just that and her solo was also the musical performance of the night – she hit ever note.
And James Ralley excelled in his first time as the panto dame Nurse Nora Nutjob after playing previous lesser high profile roles. You could tell he loved every minute on the stage – this was his 15th All and Sundry pantomime and one of the things he has always been good at is banter with the crowd – this role was perfect for him.
Picture by Roy Miles. sAmong the best comic scenes were the ‘magic hat’ and the ‘pheasant present from a peasant’ which was lots of fun and a generated plenty of laughs – Ralley doing well to deliver the final tongue-twisting line.
The chorus and dancers were brilliant, keeping things ticking over – the routine with the staffs was choreographed with military precision – you could tell a lot of rehearsing had gone into it.
The impressive UV light show we’ve come to know and love was as good as ever in this fantastically festive production.
Well done to director Alison Berrisford and her hard-working teams – both on the stage and behind the scenes.
The next performances of Robin Hood at the Cobham Theatre, Bromsgrove School, are at 7pm from Monday to Friday, December 16 to 20, and at 2pm and 7pm on Saturday and Sunday, December 21 and 22. Make sure you catch this super show.
Visit: bromsgrove-school.co.uk/whats-on.aspx or allandsundry.uk to book tickets and for more information.
