Pantomime performance perfection, oh yes it was!
The Lamlash Drama Club and friends excelled themselves with their production of Sinbad’s Desert Adventure which will go down in the annuls of panto history on Arran as one of their most popular shows, oh yes it will!
The two-hour performance, held over three days in the community theatre last week, had all of the ingredients of a good panto – a princess, played by Nickey Summer and an evil antagonist, Genghis, accurately portrayed by David Simkin.
The good guy and hero of the tale, Mark Nelson playing as Sinbad the love interest of Fatima the Princess, doing a good job of being the antithesis of Genghis, who scared and delighted the audience at the same time.
Adding to the heady mix of richly decorated sets and over the top acting, the audience were provided with ample opportunity to join in the fun with a barrage of ‘he’s behind you’ and a particular favourite in this production, ‘genie!’ which saw the audience, young and old, giving their full co-operation in assisting Princess Fatima in trying to summon the magic genie.
Allan Little, who played the Princesses’ mother, wearing a costume that the audience is unlikely to forget in a hurry, succeeded brilliantly in drawing the audience who warmed to him and shouted their support, especially when he had a handful of sweets which he, ever so gently, passed onto the panto crowd.
Providing additional humour and fun sing-alongs, evil henchmen Sheila Gilmore and Jill McKillop engaged the audience
with a particular brand of humour, incorporating many Arran organisations and people into the thread, tying the various scenes together nicely.
Setting the pace of the action, especially when running out among the audience and stirring the youth into a frenzy, the duo expertly read the audience and injected just the right amount of humour when it was required.
Nickey Summer, playing the Princess Fatima, was well cast as the butter-wouldnot-melt character that the audience loved and supported, her singing abilities on par with her convincing acting abilities. Sinbad played by Mark Nelson provided the show with a male hero who stirred the audience into a frenzy and performed various singing engagements with his princess and a few solo ventures.
Along with the harem dancing girls who impressed with their Middle Eastern dancing prowess - the bumbling genie played by Andy McNamara, ensured that the acts were rich, vibrant, amusing and captivating.
As the audience were taken through various plot twists and turns the hard work of the stage scenery designers and costume designers and the actors themselves, became very evident with viewers being realistically whisked away from a star trek scene to a dungeon scene – complete with adorable dancing skeletons – without losing the story’s narrative.
All in all, the panto provided a hearty dose of good-natured humour in a visually spectacular setting with expert performances and gave great opportunity for audience involvement.