Show: Robin Hood and the Silver Arrow
Society: Bishopstoke Players
Venue: Durley Memorial Hall. Durley Brook Road, SO32 2AR
Credits: Charles Philip
Type: Sardines
Performance Date: 31/03/2022
Robin Hood and the Silver Arrow
Photos coming soon
It was a very cold evening as I ventured out to visit the Bishopstoke Players at their temporary location at Durley Memorial Hall whilst their old home of Bishopstoke Village Hall is being re-built. The reason for my cold weather expedition was to watch their latest pantomime Robin Hood and the Silver Arrow written by newcomer to scriptwriting, Charles Philip. The panto, like many, up and down the country, was delayed from its original seasonal spot due to the Covid pandemic, that and the need to find a new performance venue.
The Bishopstoke Players generally perform great shows, but this wasn’t one of them – this one was a brilliant show – a belter, the best I’ve ever seen from this little company, full of sparkle and zest.
The stage wasn’t very big so they had to economise on set and scenery, but that didn’t make any difference to the spectacle of the show. One idea I thought was a great piece of initiative, was the scene of ‘Gisbourne Castle’, then later on in the show they were in ‘The Court Of the Sheriff of Nottingham’ The set was exactly the same one used for both scenes. When Will Scarlet mentioned they must be in the wrong castle, it looked like Gisbourne’s, the comedy duo assured him that the Sheriff liked Gisbourne’s castle so much, he decided to decorate it exactly the same.
It was a very well written panto script thanks to Charles Philip, who I later discovered was none other than the director writing under an assumed name because he didn’t want it known. (But I promised him that I wouldn’t tell anyone). He had everything right, good humour that was largely up-to-date with how the world is changing, good ideas throughout. He kept to the traditions of pantomime as much as he could. At least the baddie always entered stage left. At the point of the show where Robin was introducing his band of Merry Men (sorry Merry People), he asked ‘Where’s Little John?’ to which the reply came that wasn’t allowed out today, so they picked a random person ‘A planted stooge’, and asked him to play the part. He agreed as long as his granddaughter could come with him. Robin agreed and the show carried on calling her Extra Little John.
The cast were great and were on top of their lines, and knew exactly where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing.
Lizzie Sellars played a very over-the-top Robin Hood, her twisty-turny body actions were worthy of many comedy parts in the future. She had a very loud voice, almost too loud, but it went well with her character. I’m sure we’ll see more of her in future productions.
Lola Barrett played the very demure Maid Marion, but as the show progressed she became less demure and more assertive to the rest of the cast as the role demanded. She is another fine juvenile player that will no doubt be up there with the best of the adults in the near future.
Dame Henrietta Hood was brilliantly portrayed by Steve Hunter. I’m sure I have seen him in the dame role in a couple of pantos before, and he worked the audience like a pro. I’m sure he could make his way to treading the boards for a few professional pantomime companies in the future. He certainly knew how to dress the part, along with the ideal make-up and mannerisms. I would certainly have no qualms in giving him the part of dame if I was in the position of casting a panto.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne was very well played by Richard Bevis-Lacey. He oozed wickedness and was rightly ‘boo’d’ by the audience at every entrance. He played the crowd very well and was dressed the part, with a shaven head, long black leather coat over black clothing including leather trousers. He had all the mannerisms of a top baddie. The only way to make him that little bit more evil, was to slow his movements down. Baddies don’t move fast, they glide wickedly along the stage, and their turns and mannerisms are made even more evil by being slow and deliberate with a few more snarls out towards the audience.
The Sheriff of Nottingham was brilliantly played by Colin Carter. He wasn’t the baddie of the show as is normally portrayed with other Robin Hood pantos, but was a very likable man in the script. He was very tall, and a little bit mixed up as he appeared on stage as a Western Sherriff complete with Stetson, six-gun and an American drawl.
Little John was performed by Pete Burton, along with Extra Little John portrayed by Ella Cannavo. They always appeared together and were both very good in their parts, Little John often being put in his place by his granddaughter.
Friar Tuck was played by Stefan Dimitrov. His character was really the narrator of the show, although he did have extra appearances in a few other scenes during the show.
The final member of Robin’s merry band was Will Scarlett, and was played by very ably by Beth Bowers.
Dwayne Pipe and Wayne Bow were the comedy duo played by Kimberly Jones and Alison Pugh. They both did a great job in the roles they played, typical dopy characters. They were Sir Guy’s henchmen and therefore acted evilly to Robin, his Merry People, and to the audience in general, but immediately were weak and cowed whenever they were with Sir Guy. Beautifully played.
Mr Pendergrass was played by Kevin Bowers, and was the scene shifter and stage hand that often came on stage telling the actors to get a move on as he needed to change the scenery or alter something on stage. This was an excellent idea of casting an extra person into the show.
King John is a great little cameo role played by Ali Broeders. She also plays one of the ‘Merry People’. The other two ‘Merrys’ are played by Amber Baily and Annette Barrett. They all played their parts with Gusto.
The whole panto was ably directed by Adrian Barrett, who also wrote the script, as I mentioned earlier. He had everything working beautifully with no glitches, or if there were, they didn’t show. There were no awkward spaces while the stage crew changed the set, and believe me; I’ve seen a lot of that in my time. The whole show ran very smoothly with lots of humour, although a few jokes were very near the mark, but I don’t think they children would have noticed.
The Choreography worked very well. Simple moves, but all in time with each other – ideal for pantomime. Thanks to the plotting and planning by Ali Broeders, Charlotte Forster and Steve Hunter.
Chris Shehan was the stage manager, ably assisted by Anthony Kent. They had everything under control and the show ran like clockwork. Lighting was by Barry Kitchen and sound by JJ. Jon Morgan and Adrian Barrett supplying and making the fantastic props.
The costumes were all ideal for the show thanks to Julia Forster. Â With Grace Rogers, Charlotte Forster and Kimberly Jones applying the make-up.
All in all, it was a very good show. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it as did the whole audience going by their reactions. They even supplied great colour programmes, which not every society does. Next time Bishopstoke Players put on a pantomime, I would absolutely recommend you book tickets. Don’t miss it.