Briston Players panto review

Little Red Riding Hood

Briston Players

Briston Players' second pantomime, Little Red Riding Hood, was a skilfully adapted version, incorporating lots of local and current references by the director Joy Munro.

The audience were very lively and joined in with the spirit of the show. Unfortunately, the compere for the evening, Tony Serne, had to announce that two members of the cast were missing because of the flu bug and that several other members of the cast were suffering.

The wolf, played by Frank Bruce, gave a fearsome performance even though he was booed, heckled and hissed at, especially after several repeats of his line of 'the 7th day of the 7th week of the 7th month, of the 7th year!'

Jan Smith and Laura Wakefield were hilarious as the would be 'Models'. Suzanne Challoner, whose voice just about held out, and Juliet Lloyd as Hustle and Bustle were the nasty female duo, who get their comeuppance when they are arrested by PC Dimwitty, ably played by Graham Smith. John Standish as Dame Hood pitched his voice from falsetto to bass to perfection and had the audience in gales of laughter. Little Red Riding Hood, called Scarlet, was played by Zoe Allen and Hannah Jackson, playing Woody, Scarlet's would-be suitor, gave an exceedingly good performance and was instrumental in getting the audience to participate.

Tom Hood, the rather henpecked Squire played by Ben Allen, and his snobbish wife Geraldine Hood (Robin Spruce) both gave very credible performances. The fairies and their leader, Madam (Blind as a Bat!) Dawn played by Sue McCrimmon added colour and glitter, and the rest of the cast gave a valued supporting contribution.

The Wood Nymphs appeared courtesy of The Sutton School of Dance and were an absolute delight. Live music was supplied by Juliet Lloyd on the piano-accordion and local organist Mick Leary provided backing music for the opening and closing numbers. The Briston Players are going from strength to strength.

Terry Serne