Christmas entertainment

It’s tempting to save a lot of time by simply saying “see last year’s review” as once again a small cast perform miracles in bringing this panto to life. So to save time, and since the audience (I suspect) consists mostly of addicted EA Christmas Show addicts anyway, let me just make a few comparisons.

Although he did appear in electronic form last year, it was a huge bonus to see Harries leading the cast in person once again this time. His scripts are superb – the audience wolfing down every gag ravenously – and he doesn’t waste time explaining the unnecessary. Everyone knows what happens when a witch bites your neck and curses you to fear the full moon.

So the plot can move rapidly on to the young vet’s attempts firstly to find some work – then to work on what he finds. Throughout the show, playing several parts, Julian is constantly watching the audience in a delightfully benevolent way, as if we are all his chums and he’s written this specially for us – which of course - he has! The warmth of his enthusiasm and pleasure at our enjoyment flows from him constantly and is the key, I think, to his success. That and a very warped sense of humour…

The other four protagonists work equally hard and demonstrate huge versatility and comic timing, unhindered by a late substitution due to Philip Benjamin’s indisposition. Peter Stickney plays his roles as if he’d been rehearsing from day one and is also the loudest and clearest singer in the cast. One drawback of the situation is that I missed Benjamin’s skills on the violin and felt that overall there was less musical virtuosity on display this year, though the songs were jolly enough, and almost always audible in a difficult acoustic situation.

Good also, to see Greg Wagland in his seventh seasonal outing, demonstrating a convincing Scottish accent (such a rarity!) and a similar connection with the audience to that of Harries – lots of asides, “looks”, and quite a bit of corpsing - all adds to the fun.

Betsabeth Emran is suitably pretty and feisty as the girl surrounded by wolves in human clothing, and Tracy Elster excels in being a little treasure and a little evil, as the housekeeper turned witch above and below stairs (don’t miss the stairs – they’re the star of the show!).

And the cat? Well I’m sure Mr Harries had a hand in that. But one major criticism – the main scene starring “Nipper” was set so low on the stage that I, and many around me, could not see it – even from our raked seating. A pity, as it was obviously very funny judging from the reaction of the opposite crowd where the rake is steeper and the sightlines better.

As usual the audience is both seen and “herd” in two participation songs, and a predominantly adult crowd howled with laughter at the hairy antics and all that lupine about in the wonderfully spooky lighting which conjured up everything necessary from full moon to fiery conflagration.

The show perhaps waned a little in the second half, and the denouement was a little chaotic perhaps – difficult to do a big chase in such a tiny space. But as ever the production is imaginative, loopy, absurd, definitely not thought provoking – and it has a lovely side-plot in the letters we hear written from young Percy to his distant, and rather naughty, fiancée Prudence. And buy a programme – the sponsors’ adverts are worth it!

A perennial sell-out, you stand a little more chance of catching this one, as for once in a blue moon, Eastern Angles will be touring the show to Woodbridge on the 23rd to the 27th of January. Just one of those fangs they’ve been meaning to do for years!

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