Review: PantoSoc – Rapunzel

Rapunzel

Clifton Hill House

Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30pm

I did have concerns about attending a pantomime when not in the Christmas spirit. This was a lively, well-acted pantomime, however, written by Holly Ashford. The star of the show was definitely Oliver Poole as Rapunzel’s dad, whose performance, which seemed to resemble a Brian Blessified Gordon Brown, was hilarious.

This was certainly an interesting take on the tale of Rapunzel, which mixed in Jack and the Beanstalk, Rumplestiltskin and, most bizarrely, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Although Niall Kearney was very funny as the murderous Scottish king, the plot was often incomprehensible. Nevertheless, in a pantomime I guess that doesn’t really matter.

Generally, the quality of acting was very high. There were no issues with delivery – every performer ensured their lines were audible and energetic. The narrator (Alana Fairfax), named Ms Equality for her habit of putting a ridiculous politically correct spin on the tale, did a good job of setting the scene in a humorous manner. Rumplestiltskin (Adam Stanford) was also a very amusing character.

I do have a few criticisms of the show, however. I felt the performance dragged on for far too long. At over 2 hours, this was the longest pantomime I’ve ever seen.  I was informed before the show that everyone who had auditioned was offered a part, resulting in an enormous cast of about 30, which I’m not sure is the best way to go about things.

I was also surprised to see the Dame given such an insignificant role, appearing in only a few scenes, which seemed bizarre given the dramatic genre. In addition, the first half of the show did not encourage enough audience interaction, which is crucial to the success of the pantomime. The second half, however, was much improved in this regard, getting everybody involved with the traditional ‘oh no he isn’t’ routine. The musical numbers also seemed unrehearsed: the singing was out of tune and out of time.

Nevertheless, despite these problems, this was an enjoyable night out. If you’re fan of a good old pantomime, you won’t be disappointed.