ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

line delivery so that it made everyone sympathetic to her plight. Brittany Miralles gave us the right start with a good old thigh-slap that, for me, is the signature of a principal boy character in panto and in this case it was the Prince. Both delivered their dialogue with confidence but at times needed a little more projection. Ruth Hambleton gave a confident

performance as the man-servant of the Prince, Dandini. There was good vocal projection when singing and when delivering dialogue. Another palace servant was Samantha Wightman as the Lord Chamberlain, announcing clear and strong the attendees to the ball. There were also times where a change had to happen and Samantha miraculously became Hagan, the tap dancing horse to the tune of “Galloping Home”. It took me, and no doubt others of a certain age, back to the 1970s when we watched the series on a Sunday afternoon. Staying with the servants, Rebekah

Tomkinson was engaging and expressive as Buttons. There was humour and cheekiness in her line and gag delivery that had the audience giggling. She also shouldered some of the responsibility of engaging with the audience and getting them to shout out. I do remember that the Bob the Bunny shout-out was hard to remember last time I saw this pantomime but Rebekah recognised this and was able to play along. There was a nice dynamic in vocal projection during songs: a thoroughly enjoyable performance to watch. Giles Gaddum, as Baron Hardup, Cinders father, was the skint man who married into what he thought was a family with money only to find that the Baroness, played by Steph Evans, had done the same and so both were no better off. I enjoyed the amiable baron who reminded us that he was back from playing last year’s king. Steph headed the formidable trio