A Very Merry Panto For Christmas!
Written & Directed By David Phillips
Robin and his merry band, the delightful but penniless Maid Marion and her faithful Nurse, Nora, the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and even a surprising appearance from an unexpected historical character at the end, combine to make a memorable panto for Boxford. Full of songs and bad jokes, together with a bit of slapstick, Robin Hood will set the mood for Christmas this year!
Boxford Drama Group Charity Donations Due to the generosity of our patrons BDG have been able to donate £100 to the Royal Marines Benevolent Trust from the ‘Quartet’ draw, £100 to the East Anglian Air Ambulance following the ‘Oh La La draw and £209 each to Boxford Village Hall and Boxford Community Council as a result of the money raised at the performances of ‘Robin Hood’.
BOX RIVER NEWS REVIEW:
Set in Nottingham Castle and Robin’s encampment in Sherwood Forest, this was yet another in the long line of Pantomimes, written in house by a member of Boxford Drama Group. Written and Directed by David Phillips this years offering achieved the usual high standard that can be expected of a BDG production. One of the delights of traditional pantomime is that often the characters have to ad lib and react to situations not always in the script, which was the case for the opening of his year’s pantomime Robin Hood. The odd opening-night glitch, which the cast dealt with admirably, only served to add much to an already delightful rendition of the Robin Hood story. By the second night and playing to a capacity audience everything was slick and just as the producer had expected. I was there on the third night when the performers were also reacting well with audience participation, and comments. That’s what Panto is all about. Central to this story was Nanny Nora, the pantomime dame, wonderfully played once again by Joe Barrett, who has developed a real forte for this type of performance and so knows how to play every nuance and subtly to perfection, continually interacting with the audience. Nanny Nora’s mission is to help her ward, Lady Marion (Ruby Robinson), avoid the fate of marrying the evil Sheriff (Georgie Waterson) and instead win her the hand in marriage of Robin Hood (Beth Molloy). Well thats it in a nutshell. We had one new actor on the stage, Beth Molloy who gave a strong performance as a Handsome Robin and Derek Butler was encouraged to come out of retirement, to be a splendid Friar Tuck. There was also a surprise appearance at the end of the Panto by Sean Connery (or was it Nick Elliott) as King Richard who finally made Nanny Nora’s dreams come true. Everyone turned in splendid performances including the catering team who gave us our first taste of Turkey this season.
