Review – Beccles and Bungay Journal – Jan 1999
Panto to sing and hiss to
Loddon Pantomime Players have an excellent reputation to uphold through years of drawing full houses to their New Year shows.
This year’s production, produced and directed by Ann Turner, certainly reflects that and much of the credit must go to their young star, Ellen Turner.
At the tender age of 13, young Ellen seems unfazed by the fact she follows in many a more experienced footsteps.
Ellen takes on the role of Jack Trott and plays with conviction and enthusiasm.
Sweetheart Jill Tightfist, played by Laura Coombe, is equally charming, and has an excellent singing voice to boot.
Anthony Bunting is, as always, a superb dame, maintaining a natural rapport with the audience and the children who are eager to take part in the sing-along.
This year he plays Dame Mary Trott and the Ready, Steady, Cook sequence with daughter, Silly Tilly, played by Rosie Kipps is a real winner.
Also worth a mention is the young Fairy Sugar Plum played by Amy Coombe on this occasion, who was as down-to-earth a fairy as you could ever wish to meet.
But of course not all the characters are goodies and in this panto the evil Toxemia, which sounds like a nasty disease, gets the audience booing and hissing in all the right places.
Played by Jackie Bingham, her frightening portrayal of the giant’s right-hand woman was almost too much for some of the younger members of the audience.
Costumes and set design are as colourful as ever with a small army of behind -the-scenes helpers ensuring the swift turnaround of sets.
The panto is now in the middle of its second week with one more to go before the final performance next Saturday
There are only a few tickets left on some evenings, but you may be lucky.
