DO not believe the stories about Robinson Crusoe being all alone on a desert island.
In this show the place was heaving with people including a Man Friday who turned out to be either James (or Brooke)Bond or Campbell McNeil whichever you prefer. And what an attractive bunch they were.
Robinson was played precisely by Carmella Williams, who used her considerable acting and singing ability to great effect, supported most ably by Donna Lauder, (brother Billy), whose banter with the dame, Mrs Crusoe, was nicely timed and truly comic. And it had to be, for often they occupied the stage alone and had to carry the audience along. The said dame was cleverly and riotously played by one of only two adults in the cast, May Jappy. (The other was Campbell who, we understand, gave up the role of brand new father to black up and wear a wig for our entertainment.)
Romance was sweetly supplied by Hannah McLennan whose lovely singing voice added to the charm of Polly Perkins, while her father, Captain Perkins (Eileen Chapman), brought just the right amount of steadying gravitas to the plot.
Then there were the villains: a splendidly horrible Blackbeard (Alice Easton)(was it really a girl?) and Pegleg Pete (Lewis Davie) acted as perfect foils for a truly wicked Red Jake (Katie Blatchley). She was so convincingly evil that the younger members of the audience paid her the compliment of booing her when she took her bow.
Adding glamour was a pair of gorgeous Spirits of the Deep (Eilidh Wilson and Leoke Spouse) and a group of lissom dancers (Louise Aitchison, Hannah D’Agrosa, Connie Gilchrist and Tasmin McKechnie) who whenever they appeared brought oohs and aahs from the assembled Brownies. Dignity and mystery came in the form of King Neptune (Roisin Hearn) and the High Priestesses of the Temple (Roisin again and Amy Clement).
Crowd scenes are often the makeweight of amateur shows but the young actors of this production strutted their stuff and conveyed realistically the bustle of the market place, life aboard the ship, dancing natives and the shenanigans of the pirate horde (Robie Aitchison, Rachel Boyes, Amy Clement, Stuart Clement, Clare Dalgity, Roisin Hearn, John Ritchie, Max Rutherford, Kirsten Battison, Carly Black, Alisha Corbett, Lynsay Flockhart, Shannon Gillen, Rachel Lauder, Imogen Penman and Michelle Ritchie).
But this show was more than the sum of individual performances, good as they were. The panto was well put together and our thanks for that must go to Pauline Grieve (producer), Agnes Blackie (music), Lilian Smith (choreographer), and the back room team of Moira Gillie (prompt), Joan Blatchley (PR), and the other members of the Dream Team: Leigh Aitchison, Alison Davidson, Bob Lockwood and Hilary McKeen.
The start was a little thin but that was the fault of the script rather than the players. Once it was on its way the show rollicked along in a stream of song, patter, high jinks and some very clever interaction with the audience (Oh, yes it did!).
Mention must also be made of the colourful costumes, created, I believe, (apart from Mrs Crusoe’s dresses, Robinson’s outfits and some of Billy’s) by Lilian Smith. These combined with Make-up (Karen Smith, Sarah Queenan and Jemma Landles, Hair (Wynd and Wave), imaginative sets (Alec Birne, Border Studios and Eyemouth Variety Group) and props (Ronnie Levy) made for spectacles that were pleasing on the eye.
This was especially true of scenes like the Court of King Neptune (with sea creatures by Occasions) and the Temple of the Sun God, which, although they were relatively short, had been carefully planned and were charmingly presented. These elegant episodes nicely balanced the more swashbuckling scenes, such as the boarding of the ship by the pirate and the cannibal dance (with terrifying masks by Linda Thompson). The overall impact was enhanced by thoughtful lighting (The Battison Family) and effective and appropriate sound (John Peakman, Pamela Lindsay and Reckless Productions). And we were well looked after front-of-house by Joyce Birne and friends
This promised to be a great pantomime for children of all ages. Did it succeed? Well, you don’t need a reviewer with six rows of Brownies in the audience. They cheered, they jeered, they shouted and booed and pointed and yelled. But above all they were enthralled and at the end of the show went away shattered and happy. An unqualified success, I would say.
Bryan Webster
