Camelot the Panto
23 to 25 November 2018
23 to 25 November 2018
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Read the review of this show by the official NODA representative Christine Davidson
Director - Louise Hunt
Choreographer - Erin Simpson Performed at Ingatestone Village Hall on 23rd November 2018 On behalf of Tessa Davies of District 10, I was asked to come to review Young Expressions at Ingatestone and what a lovely friendly society this is. Run by Jenny Fowle, I was able to chat to her in the interval and she told us just how many children wanted to be in this society and that she always had a waiting list of budding actors to replace the outgoing older children. The society runs two shows a year with children from 8 to 16. This year they had seven new children treading the boards, the enthusiasm and excitement shown by all of them was wonderful. Director Louise Hunt and Choreographer Erin Simpson, both professional actors obviously worked very hard with the children to give us this unusual pantomime. A good story here with the villains, hero, heroine, Dame and jester, which all added to a romping good evening for all the audience. |
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Ella Fowle as the evil Morgan Le Fay entered the stage in a superb green and black slinky dress, with a long black and green wig. She confidently took command of the stage and was well chosen by the directors to be the lead as the evil witch. Her stance and character helped the audience to start booing her right from the beginning.
Another evil character was Valerin the Vicious (James Ravenscroft) who turned out to be not so evil and was mollycoddled by his overbearing mother (Ellie Whitwam). James was super in this role. This will be his last appearance for the group as he is now sixteen, the company all wish him well as he continues his acting life with other societies. Ellie also was a little ball of energy, bossing Valerin about and although tiny had a huge presence on stage.
A very hairy Merlin (Cameron Sawyer) with the young Merlin (Ruben de Goni-Parks) both worked their magic against the evil Morgan, trying to make a love potion for Guinevere who had been kidnapped by Valerin’s evil guards.
Queen Uther (Amelia Aston-Jobin) and Prince Arthur (Ben Shipley) commanded royally while Guinevere (Rose Whitwam) sung a great number, One Way or Another, with Valerin, his mum and Marlon (Charlotte Fowle), the evil henchman. All worked well together having total confidence and belief in their respective roles. Nell the handmaiden to Guinevere (Deanna Holkham) lit up the stage with her smile and little Louis Gregory as Teddy was really sweet.
For me the two best performances were from George Knight as Laughalot the jester and Jorji Mersey as Connie Clatterbottom, the Dame. Both of these actors gave one hundred per cent in their characters, really working the audience well. Super energy from both of them made the audience join in, while Laughalot encouraged the audience to help him gain strength by asking us to say ‘Be Bold, Be Brave!’.
The ensemble were all super and had been really well choreographed. It was nice to hear modern, up to date pop songs although I would have like to have chopped the old fashioned ‘Anything you can do’ as I think it’s had its day, the new young audiences really want the more modern songs. The opening song ‘Come alive’ was a great choice and I loved George Ezra’s Shotgun song with the full company.
The Costumes and scenery were superb. I have to compliment all the backstage crew for their slick scene changes. Lighting and sound were I’m afraid a bit off on the night we saw it. Slow cues from lighting and echoing from the floor level mics made it a little off-putting but maybe this was because it was first night, I’m sure that it was rectified after this.
A lovely pantomime with a super audience who really made this a good night for everyone involved. Well done Young Expressions for giving the local young people a place to come and enjoy being part of a community show.
Another evil character was Valerin the Vicious (James Ravenscroft) who turned out to be not so evil and was mollycoddled by his overbearing mother (Ellie Whitwam). James was super in this role. This will be his last appearance for the group as he is now sixteen, the company all wish him well as he continues his acting life with other societies. Ellie also was a little ball of energy, bossing Valerin about and although tiny had a huge presence on stage.
A very hairy Merlin (Cameron Sawyer) with the young Merlin (Ruben de Goni-Parks) both worked their magic against the evil Morgan, trying to make a love potion for Guinevere who had been kidnapped by Valerin’s evil guards.
Queen Uther (Amelia Aston-Jobin) and Prince Arthur (Ben Shipley) commanded royally while Guinevere (Rose Whitwam) sung a great number, One Way or Another, with Valerin, his mum and Marlon (Charlotte Fowle), the evil henchman. All worked well together having total confidence and belief in their respective roles. Nell the handmaiden to Guinevere (Deanna Holkham) lit up the stage with her smile and little Louis Gregory as Teddy was really sweet.
For me the two best performances were from George Knight as Laughalot the jester and Jorji Mersey as Connie Clatterbottom, the Dame. Both of these actors gave one hundred per cent in their characters, really working the audience well. Super energy from both of them made the audience join in, while Laughalot encouraged the audience to help him gain strength by asking us to say ‘Be Bold, Be Brave!’.
The ensemble were all super and had been really well choreographed. It was nice to hear modern, up to date pop songs although I would have like to have chopped the old fashioned ‘Anything you can do’ as I think it’s had its day, the new young audiences really want the more modern songs. The opening song ‘Come alive’ was a great choice and I loved George Ezra’s Shotgun song with the full company.
The Costumes and scenery were superb. I have to compliment all the backstage crew for their slick scene changes. Lighting and sound were I’m afraid a bit off on the night we saw it. Slow cues from lighting and echoing from the floor level mics made it a little off-putting but maybe this was because it was first night, I’m sure that it was rectified after this.
A lovely pantomime with a super audience who really made this a good night for everyone involved. Well done Young Expressions for giving the local young people a place to come and enjoy being part of a community show.
