Dick Whittington - BATS Review
Turnpike presented the pantomime classic, Dick Whittington, set in old London Town. On theme, the story began with an introduction from Pearly Queen, The Spirit of London, Sue Slack, who narrated the proceedings with a lovely pace and presence. The audience were in good spirits on a Saturday morning, and feeding off the crowd, was Emma Morris, who was brilliant as Barrow Boy Billy. Emma’s energy and enthusiasm was fantastic, and she gave everything to her character, singing and dancing throughout.
As Alderman Fitzwarren, Charles Morelli was a firm presence, with the right amount of fun, and his commanding performance added balance to the comical goings on. As his daughter, and Dick’s love interest Alice, Georgia Heapy was bright and bubbly, showcasing a beautiful singing voice, performing some lovely duets, and some fantastic dance moves to boot! Courtney Zanni was great as Tiddles the Cat, with great physicality and expression, ultimately saving the day for Dick and friends.
Nicholas Worthington was every bit the classic dame, as Dick’s suffering mother, Dame Sarah. Nicholas was great in his delivery of the jokes and one-liners, brilliantly interacting with the audience. I lost count of the costume changes, but he styled it out well, and was clearly in his element.
As the heroic lead, Dick Whittington, Sophia Assaf was bright, energetic and likeable, with a fantastic stage presence. Sophia interacted well with all the other characters, leading the numbers with great dance ability and a wonderful voice, especially in her duets with Alice, bravo!
As dastardly King Rat, David Hadcroft was engaging in presenting King Rat’s evil schemes and really interacted with the audience well. His character and physicality were great in creating the classic villain, with fantastic makeup to add to the effect. As his minions, Nip and Tuck, Kate Sweeny and Anita Grace were a fantastic duo. They brought a great back and forth and energy to their comical antics, with excellent expressions and brilliant vocal projection, a great contribution to the story and performance. King Rat, Nip and Tuck were also ably assisted by a few Rat minions, who provided the most fantastic sounding evil laughs, each time they came on stage, it was brilliant and highly comical.
Later into the story, Andrea Peters came bursting onto the stage as Long John Tinfoil with fantastic energy and character as the classic pirate stereotype. Andrea led her band of merry pirates brilliantly and brought great comradery to the performance.
The eight-strong ensemble injected lots of energy to the story, in their many guises as townsfolk, rats, and pirates. The ensemble worked well together, performing the songs and choreography with smiles, enthusiasm and a great team feeling. Sophia, as well as playing the lead, choreographed some simple, fun and effective dances, allowing every cast member to give it their all, filling the stage with a fun and energetic approach. The crew, led by Neil Gredecki and Richard Pilkington, provided slick set changes, with a great range of backdrops, props and set pieces. Director Hannah Boardman clearly had lots of fun with her cast, and the overall impact of the performance was the fun, team feel that came across, which the audience definitely fed off, as everyone was interacting and shouting out enthusiastically throughout.
A great performance and team effort from everyone involved, and a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. I’m not sure where you found the energy for two more performances later that day, but well done one and all! Thank you to Hannah and the lovely team for your hospitality.
Matthew Gavin - BATS