Presented by Venture Theatre Company
Reviewed 9 November 2018
Venture Theatre Company presented a fun evening of pantomime with their latest production of Cinderella. The hall is set up with tables for a BYO supper, with tea, coffee or soft drinks plus chocolate bars and crisps available for purchase – a clever money spinner for amateur theatre groups.
Buttons, played with verve by Kristy Mundy, begins the evening by having the audience practise their ‘Oh yes you did!’ and ‘Behind you!’ shouts aided by magic lollies. Nicolle Smith has done a fine job of directing a talented and enthusiastic cast for a traditional style panto which would have benefited from some judicial editing as at two hours including the interval, I think it’s over long for a children’s show.
Everyone will recognise the characters in Cinderella, very well played by Lucy Marshallsay and in true pantomime style, many of the parts are played by the opposite gender with the stand out being David Giles as The Queen. He is brilliant! I especially enjoyed his falsetto voice suddenly changing to a deep baritone and to see hm dancing in heels is worth the price of a ticket.
Carly Brandy and Shelley Carmen as the step sisters also deserve a mention as they played their roles of the thoughless, selfish and totally overblown sisters to perfection – aided by costumes that too were over the top, but the sisters still thought made them the height of fashion. Overall the costumes were well done but I thought a little on the dull side for a panto – too much navy, grey and black for my taste.
Special mention has to be made of Katrine Hildyard – Venture’s Patron and local MP – who was clearly having way too much fun as the Fairy Godmother. The ensemble worked well together with everyone contributing to an enjoyable evening. The couple of glitches with the sound system and lighting cues will no doubt be ironed out by tonight’s performance. Venture Theatre Company deserves to be supported by the community, so do take the kids along.
Reviewed by Jan Kershaw
Venue: Trinity Hall, William Road, Christies Beach
Season: 9,10,16,17 November 2018
Duration: 120 minutes
Tickets: $13.75, $20.08
Bookings: [email protected]
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