Hethersett panto review
ReviewMother GooseHethersett Pantomime GroupTHE pantomime group provided a feast of fun, colour, laughter and song in its latest production, Mother Goose.
Review
Mother Goose
Hethersett Pantomime Group
THE pantomime group provided a feast of fun, colour, laughter and song in its latest production, Mother Goose.
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There was plenty of glitz and glamour as the group returned to panto basics after its venture into the world of sci-fi last year.
The action for this year's offering, which played for nine performances in Hethersett Village Hall, centred around the village of Great Bexham, and the plot, apart from the obvious laying of golden eggs, took in a travelling circus and a stately home that had fallen on hard times.
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All the usual panto mayhem was on show, including the ever-present battle between good and evil and the slapstick-style farce that has made the event one of the most important in the village calendar.
As always, the show included a huge dollop of fun mixed with song and dance routines that take it into the realms of musical theatre as well as panto. There is always enough leeway in the scripts to allow the characters to ad-lib with audiences who need no encouragement to have a good time. It's all part of the Hethersett tradition.
Barry Foster was a joy as Mother Goose. Every year his costumes get more outrageous along with his
ad-libbing. Here is a man who can turn forgetting his lines into an art form.
Neville Greenhalgh took a year out from being a dame to play the part of the baddie Uriah, and helps to mould an excellent cast.
Emma Jermy as Jack and Rebecca Molloy as Jill are as pretty as a picture.
The Hethersett panto always provides something unusual, and this year it came in a clever sequence where paintings in the stately home Great Bexham Hall come to life and become part of the plot. Towards the end, the action moves to Blickling Hall where the highly talented designer Colin Wilson has set new artistic heights with his scale perfect backdrop.
The show is held together, as always, by the skills and personality of Lloyd Parfitt who played the part of Coke the white clown. He is well supported by partner
clown Cola (Devon Boyd) and the other main characters - Andrea
Farrow as Goosey, Vicki Gale as the ringmaster, Bonnie Wood as the Good Fairy, Steve Bussey as a rambunctious Sir William Hareford, Becky Sprout as Lady Agatha Hareford, Lewis Cook as Lord Charles Hareford, Rachel Woodier as Lady Agnes Hareford, Josh Hamer as Major General Hareford and Sue Tuckwood as the tour guide.
The production was
written and produced by Duncan Pigg and directed by Sarah Wright, with Tony Press as musical director.
Since it started in 1970, the panto has raised £53,000 for groups and charities. A bucket collection this
year will go to the
Norfolk Accident Rescue Scheme.
Peter Steward
