Ofpants, the official pantomime watchdog, is rarely at a loss for words.
But he was left speechless with admiration at the way the PACE company – led by writer/director and Dame extraordinaire, David Wallace– take every challenge in their stride. Given that a stride just about takes even one of the youth theatre players from side to side of Paisley's compact space, there's many a challenge in fitting a full-scale panto on-stage. Robin Peoples's fold-out set neatly opens its flats from town street to forest glade –and, with a further tug, into the Little People's kitchen, complete with flickering fire.
Meanwhile, Team One's youngsters were singing and dancing – to catchy original music by Alan Orr and David Ramsay –with spot-on (and mostly on-the-spot) verve and timing. And "timing!!!" was what Ofpants had writ large, and underlined, on his checklist. Why? Surely the patter between Wallace's Widow White and affable numpty Sam (Alan Orr) had hit the funny bone of old and young alike? Hadn't Ruth Tapp's Evilina lived up to her name as Wicked Queen? And Snowhite (Lyndsey Graham) and the Prince (Matthew Ellis) hadn't been too slushy for the cubs, who'd even cheered the duets.
The old watchdog was happy to explain at enthusiastic length: I'll precis. Cub James – dubbed The Oracle by Wallac e– kept excitedly offering help with the plot, even though this version wasn't strictly Grimm or Disney. The way Wallace embraced this, indeed all of the plentiful audience participation, was a joy to Ofpants. Existing timings gave way to spontaneous banter and impromptu running gags, all exceedingly good-humoured, and, in Ofpants' book, a welcome reminder of why pantos go on in the first place.
HHH
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