The greedy
king. The ugly villain. The distressed princess. The handsome man to
the rescue. Sound familiar? Despite the predictable structure of the
plot, A Right Rubbish Christmas was anything but rubbish.
With quirky characters, colourful costumes, delightful songs and witty
lines, A Right Rubbish Christmas turned out to be
a highly interactive and enjoyable treat for both the kids and older
folks. By the interval, everyone was caught up in the twists and turns
of the play. Yes, even this seventeen-year-old was waiting expectantly
to find out what would happen next.
This new pantomime begins with a homeless man, Nicky Norbutter, (Andy
Tear) telling little Tom Tinker (James Barton) his past experience as
a worker in King Trevor's castle. The audience is then transported
to King Trevor's (Peter Hodgson) castle where his adviser, Count
Yermani, (Daniel Jenkins) is counting the number of Christmas gifts
the king has received. Count Yermani schemes to steal King Trevor's
Christmas gifts and marry his daughter, Princess Alopecia (Claire Devine).
The saviour of the day is Nicky who overhears Count Yermani's
evil plan and begins his adventure to rid the people of the kingdom
of the dreaded "Christmas tax" and save his beloved Princess
Alopecia from misery. Unfortunately, the lovely princess is dentally
challenged, which leads to much amusement for the audience. ("Ish
all wrong, I feesh sho lonely.")
In the end, as with all feel-good Christmas stories, Count Yermani
is captured and Nicky is wedded to the beautiful Princess Alopecia.
Tom learns the true meaning of Christmas is more than just about presents
and that Nicky is really… Santa Claus! Aww…
A Right Rubbish Christmas presented a power-packed cast (also
including Leigh McDonald who plays Fairy Cross-de-Mersey and Matt Grey
as Marjorie Norbutter), whose ability to engage the audience left everyone
enchanted. Jenkins played the part of the villain to perfection, equipped
with the requisite evil laugh, devious wink and cunning smile. It was
a brilliant performance by the actor who managed to enrage the little
ones and amuse the adults with his antics. Similarly, Grey, playing
Marjorie Norbutter, the pantomime dame, had the audience laughing throughout
the play. Having chosen ten men from the audience to join her on stage,
one of who was to be "her" husband, "she" proceeded
to flirt outrageously with each one. Little mishaps during the performance
were smoothly and effortlessly turned by Grey to his advantage, drawing
even more laughs from the crowd.
Credit also deserves to be given to the sound and lighting crew for
creating the perfect atmosphere for certain scenes. For instance, whenever
the dreaded "Christmas tax" was mentioned, a bolt of lightning
sounded and the stage turned eerily dark. However, the most special
quality of the play was its involvement with the audience. In true Panto
tradition, there was great interaction between the characters and the
audience as the children were encouraged to sing along and assist in
saving the day (especially near the end when the kids were required
to bombard Count Yermani with crushed pieces of paper). It was evident
at the end of the play that all of them had had a fun-filled time.
My only criticism is that certain parts of the play dragged on for
too long, which was quite a surprise, as the children's short
attention span should have been taken into consideration. After all,
the play was mainly targeted at little kids. Perhaps, the way to go
with such a play should have been short and sweet.
All in all, A Right Rubbish Christmas delivered what it promised: "A
big hearted, fast paced and hilariously funny" play. Judging from
the excitement on everyone's faces after the play, I'm certain
that this family show put everyone in the Christmas mood. Ho ho ho. |
"With quirky characters, colourful costumes, delightful songs and
witty lines, A Right Rubbish Christmas turned out to be a highly interactive
and enjoyable treat for both the kids and older folks"
|
