If there’s one thing that raises your spirits again after this year’s particularly miserable January, it’s got to be Pratts Bottom Dramatic Society’s annual community Panto, and their 2025 offering, ‘Alice in Wonderland‘ proved to be no exception. Not only that, but yet again they contrived to raise the bar in every aspect of their production.
The magical transformation of the village hall into a veritable wonderland of light and sound not only set the scene before the curtains parted, but inevitably set the standard for the performance itself and in this, the expectant audience were assuredly not disappointed. Indeed, swiftly encouraged by the combined performances of an outrageously costumed Duchess and a thoroughly sinister Knave, the audience played their traditional ‘boos and cheers’ role with gusto from the very start.
Inevitably the size of a panto cast makes it difficult and, I believe, unnecessary to dwell on particular performances, since, unlike a play, every performing role from ‘walk on’ to ‘lead’ must contribute to the overall spectacle where the underlying plot is already well known. Having said that, the equally familiar panto characters must turn in strong performances to keep the magic alive. Most of all however, without a well-directed and talented supporting cast, even the most convincing traditional pantomime role performances will fail to achieve the overall success of a pantomime.
With that said, the bewildering array of delightfully convincing and talented individual performances, each one show-piecing Lewis Carroll’s whimsical characters to the full, alongside superb choreography in movement, dance and song pays huge tribute to producer, director and their teams, not to mention the coordination of a huge cast in limited space painlessly executed on the night by a thoroughly skilled backstage crew. .
By now we have come to expect PBDS professional sound and lighting effects together with their outstanding wardrobe, which make their annual pantomime so special. Last but by no means least, the set design and construction team tumbled us down the rabbit hole into Wonderland itself.
Brian McEwan
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