Photo Pola Royde: Robin, Dobbin, Goblins and Alan a Dale - a scene from the Wrington Drama Club’s pantomime ‘Dobbin of Sherwood’.
Production photos

‘Dobbin of Sherwood’, a pantomime written by local author Claire Nikou, provided a tour de force for the combined talents of the Wrington Drama Club. If this reviewer were to mention everybody whose contribution to a fantastic and hilarious spectacle was outstanding, it would amount to no more than copying out the programme, so I apologise in advance to those I will of necessity omit.

As a pantomime it ticked all the boxes - local references and allusions abounded - there were scary villains - notably Omar, sheriff of Nottingham, sardonically portrayed by John Graham, Guy of Gisborne by the ebullient Mark Halper, Belladonna the witch, played with malevolent gusto by Rebecca Bryce, and her coven of cackling hags - Echo Irving, Miche Dunstone and Margaret Morris.

There were two dames - saucy Sisters Inferior (Fred Cowgill) and Posterior (Jim Swords), an adorably clumsy Fairy Bubblegum by Alienora Taylor, and an equally lovable, if soppy, Prince John (Michael Berkley). Mervin the Wizard was Alan Wilson, King Richard was Peter Langley, and Friar Tuck the patently terminally typecast Phil Georgetti (day job - landlord of the Golden Lion). There was a delightful cameo for Pauline Jefferies as a (definitely not typecast) old crone.

The eponymous Dobbin of Sherwood was an all- singing, all-dancing pantomime horse/unicorn brought gaily to life by Chris Parnham (rear) and Pat Milne (front).

Principal boy Robin Hood was played by Beth Mitchell, apparently quite unfazed by what must seem a completely bizarre tradition to an American living in our midst. A vision in fishnet tights and velvet breeches, she slapped her thigh, sang, hollered and buckled acres of swash. Joining her in the ‘dad crumpet’ stakes were Amy Bugler as Alan a Dale and Jane Vowles as Lady Marian of Wrington.

Armies of elves, fairies, spooks and goblins were provided by local school children, many from Julie Kingcott’s Junior Drama group. They sang, danced and acted with professional aplomb, as did all the cast, ably accompanied by musicians Gerald Filer and Paul Martin, whose incidental music and sound effects enhanced the whole performance, which was well led by Lorraine Perry in her first go at directing.

At this point, after briefly renewing my apologies for the many names I have left out, I would add that on the night I went I found myself among a truly fabulous audience who sang, cheered, booed, howled, hissed and heckled at the top of their lungs in all the right (and a few of the wrong) places. It was heart- warming to feel that sense of community in a shared experience, and to think:

‘Those people, singing, dancing, shouting, making complete fools of themselves in public, are our friends, neighbours, spouses, children, parents...’