Aylesbury Waterside Theatre – until Wednesday 3 January 2024
Reviewed by Sue Portman
5*****
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, this year’s fun-filled family Panto has it all! Aylesbury Waterside Theatre’s enchanting family pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs promises all the trademark fun our panto audiences have come to know and love. Starring EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing star, James Bye, alongside family favourite, Andy Collins (BBC Three Counties Breakfast Show), who is returning due to popular demand.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs promises a traditional fairy tale with a magical twist, plenty of audience participation and possibly some pots and pans and a bra that was made for 3!
The vain, wicked queen consults her magical mirror and learns that her beautiful stepdaughter, Snow White, is the fairest in the land. Snow White flees to escape the Queen’s evil plans against her and in the forest discovers a cottage inhabited by seven dwarfs, who warmly welcome her into their home. The Queen eventually learns of Snow
White’s whereabouts and, disguising herself as an old woman, attempts to poison her stepdaughter with a tainted apple. The handsome Prince comes to her rescue and restores her to life with a kiss.
Directed by award-winning Chris Nelson (Best Director, Great British Pantomime Awards 2017).
Well, that’s the advertising bumf, but what was it actually like for me?
Let me begin by reminding the dear reader that Snow White is actually a dark story of jealousy, attempted murder and grotesque vanity, which was published by the Brothers Grimm in Germany in 1812. The original German title was Sneewittchen and the Grimms completed their final revision of the story in 1854, which can be found in the 1857 version of Grimms’ Fairy Tales.
There were two acts this evening, and the first saw the introduction of the main cast with Snow White (Rhiannon Chesterman) and Dame Dilly Donut (Leon Craig) building their rapport before we see my favourite character, Queen Grimelda, wonderfully played by Lyndsey Gardiner appear to the customary boos from the now febrile audience. You could
see the kids literally giving the thumbs down as if the stage had magically transformed into a Roman arena.
Then, firm Aylesbury favourite Andy Collins appeared as Muddles and the audience gave him a very warm reception. Throughout, he was the undoubted star of the show for the gathered throng and he is very much at home after more than a decade playing on this stage. His impish antics and multifarious costumes perfectly suit him as an actor and I feel
that he knits the whole thing together, year in, and year out. I cannot imagine a panto without him – he is that important.
Finally, Prince Frederick appears, expertly played by James Bye of Eastenders fame. His job of course is to woo Snow White and administer the life-giving kiss later in the story and he plays his part with a cheeky smile and a warm heart. His role is one of a sometimes bumbling Prince and in some ways this aspect of the character endears him to the audience. This isn’t TV mind you, it is live theatre, and there are a couple of little slips with lines that he seamlessly corrects and reminds us that after all – live is just better and it is part of the experience.
Then we have the dwarfs. Here, they are and a marvellous, rich cosmopolitan mix they are. The traditional dwarf names have been changed to Prof (Stijn Keileers) Cheeky (Harrison Taylor), Stroppy (Willie Coppen), Dozy (Fatemeh Serebani), Snotty (Denise Coppen), Whiffy (Kate Meczynska) and Disney (Jessica Ward) and that works splendidly. I could see how much they enjoyed their art and yes, there were plenty of jokes about short people but who cares? They didn’t. Well done on not sanitising everything.
I have to say that Keileers stole it for me with his brilliant (and natural) accent, which reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Keilers is Flemish, not Austrian. He was just great and a fine actor. It’s been a long time sing I sang Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go and it was wonderful to do so, joined by a happy and willing audience.
Of course, there was plenty of singing from the cast, and here, Chesterman’s voice eclipsed all others in my view. Leon Craig was masterful in this regard also and he owned the stage in his own way. You’ve got to have pizzazz and intrinsic confidence to be a panto dame and he had it in spades.
I did once again have a bit of an issue with the sound system at the venue, sometimes not hearing the words of songs with clarity. Maybe that’s just me, I don’t know, but it isn’t the first time and I will need to monitor this.
I want to mention the ensemble too, who shared their marvellous dance moves with us and it was clear that the choreography must have been tricky to learn, but they delivered something quite new for us with a smile great energy. The synchronicity was faultless and it was a treat to watch them strut their stuff and earn the applause.
Throughout, we saw skilfully manufactured stage settings, from the Palace courtyard to forest scenes and the queen’s quarters. I was particularly impressed with the house that the dwarfs lived in. It was mobile (moving from back to mid-stage) and it opened up to display the scene inside, including seven beds! The Royal Wedding and Finale scenes were absolutely astonishing, and I can only imagine the effort expended to construct it. It’s just a shame that the set had such a limited life in the whole panto, as I would have enjoyed seeing it for longer. The lighting was imaginative and the timing was spot-on, especially
when the wolves and other animals were dancing, and the choice of music was excellent, traditional panto in parts, with classic and rock pieces – many thanks to the unseen musicians for that.
The theatre was jam-packed, and the audience were willing players especially when it came to the traditional ‘twelve days of Christmas’ game (if you have never been, you simply must see it this year) and the customary water spraying. Now, on that matter this aspect of panto has developed from a couple of old squirts of water from a cast member in days gone by to a full on, all-out war between cast and audience, with many audience members now literally ‘armed’ with water guns and spraying all and sundry. I got soaked by the small child in front of me, who looked and acted like the Milky Bar Kid, as he gleefully emptied his gun barrel of water onto my jumper, but you know, this is a panto – and an Aylesbury Waterside panto at that – and it is meant to be fun, right? Next year I shall bring a raincoat and a hat!
Thankfully, we had plenty of innuendo for the adults which was cheesy but in keeping with a panto, and plenty for the kids to laugh at also, with cast members tripping, banging heads and farting. What could be better?
Director Chris Nelson and his team can be very proud of this production, as can all of the cast and crew and the Aylesbury theatre team. It is rather apt that pantomime season occurs during dark, cold winter days and nights, because the madness of panto is meant to infuse us with a warm glow. In a troubled world, we should remember how to laugh aloud
at the absurdity not only of a big man in outrageous drag (by far the best, most ostentatious that I have ever seen) and people dancing and singing their hearts out to complete strangers, but of life itself.
What Aylesbury Waterside Theatre provides, this and every Christmas, ls something that can never be found under a tree. It is astonishing what the cast delivers having had only a few weeks together.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a big success for me, and you must go and catch it whilst you can. As the supermarkets say – when it’s gone, it’s gone. Oh no it isn’t – OH YES IT IS!