Beauty and The Beast – The Panto
About the Production
Theatre Workshop Coulsdon’s Christmas 2018 production is an all-new, original pantomime based on the much-loved fairy tale, ‘Beauty and the Beast’. This classic tale, and its underlying message that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, has been transformed into a full-fat panto, rocket fuel for the winter season, chock-full of larger than life characters, sing-along songs and audience participation, as the lovely Beauty finds that the monstrous Beast is not what she was expecting. A full band and a large ensemble cast (Bumbling guards, saucy maids, talking vegetation and puppet creatures) support a tale of good versus the evil that is Deadly McNightshade, the woman who puts the wicked into witch and gives it a Scottish accent. Can true love break the dread spell that has locked a handsome prince in a prison he can never escape from? Oh yes it can!
But where did the original story come from? Well, once upon a time there was a woman called Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (They had some cracking names back then) Born in Paris in 1685, she was married at 21 and widowed at 26, her aristocratic but spendthrift husband losing his life almost as swiftly as he lost their money. With her family fortune gone, she needed a way to support herself and eventually moved in with the celebrated playwright and poet Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon (See, another one!) where she began to write. From 1734 through to her death in 1755 she wrote novels and collections of fairy tales but most notably, in 1740, she wrote ‘La Belle et La Bête’, or as we know it, ‘Beauty and the Beast’. It formed part of a much larger story, and was much more complicated than we’re used to now. The simpler version is down to another Frenchwoman, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (and another!) who re-wrote the tale as a much shorter story and published it the year after Villeneuve’s death without acknowledging its origins. Which was a bit sneaky. Boo! Hiss!
Since then it’s become a children’s fairytale classic. Of course, that meant it got the full Disney treatment, twice now, both as a cartoon (1991) and a live-action movie (2017). But there have also been numerous other movie and TV adaptations, a stage musical, an opera, a ballet, and even songs, a disco tune and video games. Its themes of love conquering all and never judging by appearances are simple and easily relatable. And so Sheila May Bird, published children’s author (‘Pete’s Peculiar Petshop’, ‘Pirate Percy’s Parrot’ and others that don’t begin with the letter ‘P’) and long-time member of Theatre Workshop Coulsdon, decided that what had been missing all these years was a pantomime version, full of silliness, slapstick, songs, an audience participation number and the kind of ‘behind you!’ nonsense that makes going to the theatre at this time of year so much fun.
The Cast
Behind the Scenes
Image Gallery
The Reviews
Pantomime Spirit is alive and well in Coulsdon. Oh yes it is!
As the Fairfield Halls approaches a third ‘dark’ Christmas, for the first time in living memory there is no ‘Croydon Pantomime’. Except, as our intrepid arts correspondent Bella Bartock discovered this week, there are community theatre groups keeping the season spirit alive and well. Next week, it will be Cinderella at Ruskin House. Next month, the Sanderstead AmDram group will be taking to the boards with their annual production. And for the past fortnight, it has been ‘Beauty and the Beast’ that has been wowing the locals down in Coulsdon.
As we were handed our programme by a very nice young girl called Rosemary and tripped our way to the theatre bar, I was able to explain that this production was all-new, meaning that the company had pulled it together themselves, based only on the original work of Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. And Walt Disney. Claudia was most impressed. She was even more impressed after she took a sip of her Malbec, and discovered a glass was only £2.50. She promptly ordered two more, intending one for the interval, and I led her away to our seats, in an almost full auditorium, which surprised me, as this was the second week of the run, which ends with a matinee and evening performance this weekend.
My first impressions of the production were very good. The set and stage design appeared top-notch, and as the six-piece band began to play I could sense Claudia tapping the toe of her kitten heels. As you ought to expect with a community production such as this, the ensemble numbers were all performed with energy and gusto, while some of the solos were stronger than others.
Lauren Edmonds makes a pretty and deliberately soppy Beauty, so sweet and kind we had to restrain ourselves from booing her. Oddly, she was followed on stage throughout by a large white rabbit, Harvey, her imaginary friend. Tanya Allison as Deadly McNightshade, the evil witch (Boo! Hiss!), was much more to our liking. A bitter, poisonous old hag intent on inflicting misery, she looked like Kate Bush with an evil agenda and sang well, too. Candida (It’s Candeeda!) and Verrucae (It’s Ve-roo-kay!) were gloriously gaudy as played by Mike Brown and Richard Lloyd. They are very centre stage as Beauty’s dreadful Ugly Sisters. They had great timing and delivery.
Bruce Montgomery plays noble Baron Land, and Lucy-Ann Bird holds the scenes and the story together as William, the Baron’s cheery manservant. There was accomplished and energetic comic acting from Lisa Lloyd as the Cook. Fran Auletta was Maid Flora Stone and Hannah Montgomery, as Maid Fifi de Vale (Maidstone and Maida Vale, geddit?) is all Vicky Michelle from ‘Allo, ‘Allo! and we couldn’t help but laugh at her ‘fruity dumplings’. Joe Wilson and Jack Clarke offered a fine comedy double act as the Baron’s guards.
In a most surreal moment, there was a rendition of Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ performed by a Tree and a Topiary Bush. We wondered what they’d put in the mince pies. Bizarrely, the Tree was one of my favourite performances, played by Rory Curnock Cook, who really can act with his eyes. His sidekick is played by Eloise Brown in the part of, as we were constantly reminded, a well-trimmed bush. The point of panto, of course, is that it is meant to be thoroughly over the top.
I’d scoured the programme quickly to find out who had written the script, but could find no single credit (Author Sheila Bird’s name and credit is on page two of the programme – Editor). I imagine, as far as some of the gags were concerned, they seemed to come straight from Les Dennis, or Les Dennis’ Christmas Crackers. There were some laugh out loud moments, which were well worth waiting for, but in the main, when the audience was rolling in the aisles, they were groaning. There was a fair amount of good old-fashioned innuendo. Warning – One line was expertly timed and delivered by Chris Argles as Basil Privet, the Gardener. It was, you might say, a low blow. It made Claudia sit bolt upright, gasp and cover her mouth in shock. Even the cast had some difficulty stifling giggles and composing themselves.
The audience around us were enthusiastic, booing and cheering as the production required, and where the cast’s timing was just right. There was a display of sock-puppetry in the show the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Shari Lewis was a gal; it was all used in an engaging and useful comedic device. And Sean Young, who plays a pitiful and conflicted hairy-faced Beast, delivers a final reveal which was well worth waiting for. AÂ night to remember.
Steve Downes as Bella Bartock for Inside Croydon, 15 December 2018
Other Productions
