THERE were plenty of fun moments for all the family in the Fairbourne Dodders’ Alice in Panto Land.
An appreciative audience enjoyed lots of laugh out loud moments, including several servings of slapstick and a subtle sprinkling of double entendres and innuendo.
It was wonderful to see even the very young been catered for in this panto – both on the stage with the chorus members and with the singalongs which included ‘I’m a Little Teapot’.
The pick of the scenes was the ‘shrinking’ which cleverly saw adult Alice disappear to be replaced by a smaller version before the audience’s eyes. The ad-libbing by the actors also struck a chord with the crowd.
There was good chemistry between Lou Griffin and Sharon Cartwright as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, Jessica Pedley did brilliantly as Alice, Steph Griffin was a fantastic Fairy and Dan Louch made a dazzling dame in his role as The Duchess, leading a lot of the audience participation.
But there were three stand-out performances on the evening.
Sarah Lloyd’s portrayal as the evil The Queen of Hearts was ‘well executed’ – like quite a few of her subjects and she deservedly got her fair share of boos and hisses from those watching,
Phil Stuart was excellent as the eccentric Mad Hatter, also building up a good rapport with the crowd and making the stage his own when he needed to.
But, arguably the best, was Sian Brookes as the spoilt Cecil the knave. The audience took to her character well and chuckled along as she came up with cunning plan after cunning plan to finish off the Queen in a bid to claim the crown.
This festive feelgood offering featured a singalong with ‘When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney’ which enabled children to come onto the stage and a rendition of White Christmas to get everyone in the seasonal mood before the curtain fell.
The remaining performances take place at 7.30pm on Friday (December 1) and Saturday (December 2) when there is also a matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets, which are £7 for adults and £4 for children (12 and under) call Lesley Bodley on 07788 684412. Under fives go free.
