Strictly Come Panto!
OH YES IT WAS! The school Christmas production this year was a pantomime written and directed by April Cook (see April's Alternative Therapies). The whole school contributed to two fantastic performances with such obvious enjoyment it was a treat to be in the audience.
The usual pantomime stars put in an appearance: a very handsome prince (Ben Jeacock) turned up to wake Sleeping Beauty (Eliza Raja) who then celebrated with a stunning solo performance of When You Wish Upon a Star; the comedy roles were played by Bangers (Gwilym Davies) and Mash (Harry Doe) with perfect timing; Aunt Bessy (Henry Kingsmill), complete with wig, was a great comfort to all the villagers but sadly did not manage to catch the eye of the handsome prince; nastiness came in the form of the evil demon (Ben Snaith) and his band of goblins who were seen off by the Fairy Queen (Charlotte Elston) and her sparkling fairies.
However, this was a whole school effort with everyone contributing to the final show. The children all sang with enthusiasm throughout, and Mia Blanks and Maddie Lewinski both sang beautiful solos. The scenery was made by 3 parents (Liz Tabecka, John Cane and Fiona Terrington) and really captured the woodland scene to perfection; a lot of time had also been spent preparing the costumes, especially Class 1's woodland creatures and a fearsome dragon. Everyone had obviously worked very hard in rehearsals which led to seamless scene changes, even when getting 100+ children on and off the stage.
This was a great production and congratulations are due to April, the staff, and of course the children for putting on such a memorable Christmas show.