Act Reviews 2024 / 2025 Season

infectious one couldn’t help but smile. Here was the person that could weave magic but could only grant small wishes, the big ones had to be passed on to his cousin Tanqueray (Djinn of the lamp) played by Caoimhe Gallery. Harry Garrity, looked every bit ‘our hero’ and Principal Boy character - Aladdin. He was assertive and strong in the role and worked well with Hannah Blencowe, the Princess Ruby. They both had occasion to sing those lovey, dovey, gaze-into-each-other’s eyes songs, and as they sang without corpsing they did this well. To be a pantomime dame is one of the hardest things in this genre to accomplish. John Cocks-Evans donned the frocks for this pantomime. There tends to be two types of dames in pantomime, the energetic leaping around one, and the relaxed and comfortable one. John’s portrayal was very much in the latter style. He looked glamorous in all his ensembles, especially the Mrs Santa costume at the end. The character did have a signature call out slogan but this seemed to be lost at times in the noise from this matinée audience. The son of Twanky is Wishy Washy and has the job of making us laugh and engage with the silliness of pantomime. Harrison Jones tried hard to work the audience. He also had a call out response and would have benefitted from establishing it more firmly in his first scene. I am sure this will come with experience. The beauty of pantomime is that it gives young actors the opportunity to learn and hone their craft each year; what works, what doesn’t and what is worth persevering. Harrison was engaging and had a cheekiness and silliness to

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODU3MzQ=