Hats off to cast and crew for joyfully staged panto
Spiderella is perfect family viewing
Horowhenua is blessed with a vibrant theatre scene belching out productions that seldom — if ever — disappoint. Theatre-goers are spoilt with the Levin Performing Arts Society, the Foxton Little Theatre, the Levin Little Theatre, and the O¯ taki Players, all within coo-ee. Yet every now and then something comes along that’s a little bit different, a production that has a little bit of extra magic, a bit of je ne sais quoi.
Spiderella and the Pantomime Villain Academy, currently on show at Levin Little Theatre, has it. “It” being something that is really hard to quantify, but leaves the audience thoroughly entertained, having experienced something they possibly haven’t been served before.
The Spiderella show was simply . . . entertaining. It encouraged audience engagement and then fed off it. It was funny and it was expertly delivered.
If you had to try to put your finger on what made it score highly then it was probably the cast, who brought each respective character to life through sheer energy and joy of performance, and made each character their own.
Full marks for casting. From Widow Twankee (Les Frost) and his, sorry her, opening address, to Tinkerbell (Charlette TaylorThomson) taking selfies, the entire cast was a crack-up and backed up by a script that had just the right amount of cheese.
The Big Bad Wolf (Josh Jury) was pretty funny with some understated humour, as was the not-so-wicked Wicked Witch of the West (Kimberleey Stevenson). The part of Smee (Krystal Connell) was pulled off with flying colours, while Captain Hook (William Gilbert) was born to “aarrrrrgh”.
Not to be forgotten from the main cast were Aladdin (Maya Snow), Fairy Godmother (Lindoe Van Loggerenberg), and the King and Queen of Pantovia (Faith Watters and Declan Leahy).
But the star of the show was Spiderella herself with a vintage performance from Chontelle Von Hagen,
who even threw in a singing solo for good measure.
The play, written by Peter Nuttall, was directed by Sonia Grimstrup with Noah Watters as her assistant. The storyline is based around a group of villains who are tired of losing in their pantomimes every year, so they look to Spiderella to teach them how to defeat the goodies for once.
It’s up to the “goodies” to make sure everyone has a happy ending.
If there was one gripe — and it was no fault of cast or crew — it would be the chewing of crispy chips inside the theatre. Not everyone is able to handle the sound of teeth crushing a potato chip. Some people can tolerate it. But some can’t. The packet rattles in the search for more chips, and any deliberate attempt to chew slowly makes it worse.
But back to the pantomime. It was perfect family viewing and hats off again to the cast, crew, and everyone behind the scenes at Levin Little Theatre.
The show continues every Friday night and Saturday night, with a Sunday matinee, up until December 3, with meals available with some viewings. Ticket bookings are available at trybooking.co.nz/LSI
The theatre is always looking for new talent and people to help out behind the scenes. It will be holding workshops next year for anyone who wants to learn more and is thinking of becoming involved.
You can also become a member of Levin Little Theatre. Annual memberships are $25 for a single, $35 for a couple, $10 for students and $40 for families.