Given a modern pantomime take by English writing collective TLC Creative, it only remains for Aubyn Live Theatre to work its magic.
A tale of a beautiful heroine, three lovable bears and, best of all some porridge, is updated to include a villain intent on world domination with her hypo-honey.
Director Lesley Aplin moves this story tightly through lots of silliness, jokes and crazy characters with plenty of audience participation.
In the best pantomime tradition, a male plays the part of the dame and Billy Hickey used all his enthusiasm and energy to make the most of his character Auntie Septic. His movements and voice control allowed his asides and jokes to satisfy all ages in the audience. His dim-witted son Ray, played by Libby Whitten, did a brilliant job of providing comedic continuity, with excellent energy and stage presence.
Goldilocks is played with charm by Catherine Aplin, nicely matched by Reece Bisley as TomTom, who might have been a reluctant hero, but stayed the distance to win the heart of his dream.
Kenzie Atkinson was the wicked Queen Bee, who had dreams of domination that went beyond the woodland, and the director could have not asked for a better villain.
Hench bee soldiers Barnabee, Penelobee and Buzzbee were played by Natalie Fourie, Isla Holland and Hunter Thorne respectively, who all gave strong supporting performances. Relishing all his scenes was Leo Hohipa-Taite-Kupa as Kevin the Wasp, who appeared to be on some sort of exchange scheme.
The two woodsmen, Asher Campbell and Lillian Fourie, gave mature performances. The bear’s appearance was eagerly awaited by the audience and we were not disappointed by Daddy Bear, who was played with confidence by Matt Aplin. Lizzie Haldane was powerful as Mummy Bear and, as one would expect, Maddison Tyler-Steffert stole all scenes she was in as Baby Bear.
Mandy Smith as choral director has done an excellent job with her charges, especially in the ensemble numbers. The singing was clear, with some excellent projection along with some clever choreography by Kendra Campbell. Lighting effects, sound and the set were all to a high standard.
Audience participation is compulsory, especially when the wolf is about and with childhood bedtime story icons school holiday entertainment does not get any better than this.
