‘Babes in the Wood’ is one of the oldest and most loved children’s pantomimes. The Graduate Dramatic Society is at the comfortable Roleystone Theatre, 587 Brookton Highway, Roleystone presenting Stephen Quinn’s adaptation of the story, in the traditional style.

Stephen was brought up – even dragged up – in south London, taking an interest in theatre from a young age. He is one of WA’s leading directors covering many serious genres, and yet his pantomime scripts have all the madcap, dry, double-entendres of the much-loved, old style UK productions.

The two and a half hour performances commence at 8.00 pm on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights until the 19^th December; there are also matinees at 2.00 pm on the Saturday afternoons.

The opening scene is a colourful village street, with a cottage centre stage. The proscenium arch and the side flats are beautifully painted, woodland scenery. Set design and construction by Jonathan Beckett, with set artwork by Rebecca MacKinlay.

      We join the villagers of a small hamlet near Nottingham as they celebrate at their summer fayre. The lively chorus enjoy their Maypole dancing (Choreographer Glynis Best), whilst the engaging and flamboyant, Dame Martha (Barry Park) and her talking, multitalented dog, Woofy (George O’Doherty) introduce us to the locals.

      There is Lady Marian (Sarah Courtis) who is the governess to Sir John’s children, Jane (Sienna Freeman) and Jeremy (Charlie Martin). Sir John’s wife vanished years ago, and sadly, now Sir John himself has disappeared. The evil Sherriff of Nottingham (Kerri Hilton) has the task of sorting out Sir John’s affairs and his Will, and the Sherriff has decreed that in the meanwhile the children should stay with their mercenary and miserable uncle, Sir Jasper (Grant Malcolm).

     When Jasper discovers that he will inherit all of his brother’s money if the children die, he hires two layabouts Abbott (Neale Paterson) and Gillard (Fiona Johnson) to take the children into the forest and kill them. Luckily, the fairy of the forest, Titania (Lis Hoffman) sees what is happening and sends two magical robins (Eliza Malcolm, Mercy Anthony) to guard them.

    Two of the villagers, the Old Crone (Lynda Butler) who works for Sir Jasper, and her friend Smith (Steele Fitzsimmons) hear from a poor girl, wearing a tattered dress, Rags (Neve Havercroft) of Jasper’s dastardly plan. Suspecting that Jasper and the Sherriff may be working together, they avoid the Sherriff’s guard (Glynis Best) and look for the help of the forest dweller, Robin Hood (Mel Kay).

    Soon Robin has gathered his Merry Men. There is Friar Tuck (Bill Connellan), the small but brave, Little John (Felix Malcolm), flour covered, Much the Miller (Sharon Malcolm), the musical, Alan a’ Dale (Sarah Callahan), the confused Will Scarlett (Julia Anthony) – or is he another scarlet? Their young helper, ‘the Kid’ (Hannah Horsley), accompanies them.

Director Stephen Lee obviously knows the true traditional pantos inside out. His hilarious script was cleverly written on two levels, one for the kids to appreciate and the other full of groan-worthy jokes for the broadminded parents. Stephen has obviously captured the respect of the cast, as they gave the show their all. Not for a second did even the youngest chorus member look bored or miss a cue, the cast was one strong unit.

A Dame to love and a nasty person for everyone to boo and hiss are essential; Barry Park’s ‘Dame’ was magnificent, immediately winning the affection of the audience. Grant Malcolm’s ‘nasty uncle’ was brilliantly conceived, with an eye patch – that changed sides throughout – a deformity, scruffy clothes and a weird walk – topped off with a booming rasping voice that invited numerous ‘boos’. Great teamwork.

Thigh-slapping Mel Kay, with her subtle costume ‘problems’ (a bow and quiver that never seemed to be in quite the correct place), was perceptive, subtle humour. Her singing, along with that of Sarah and Rags, was beautiful. One of the stars of the show was young Felix Malcolm, who could project his voice, change accents and act confidently – admirable. Likewise, the two ‘babes in the wood’ and Rags can be very proud; all three had great stage presence. It seems almost unfair to name some of the actors, as they ALL sang, danced and lived their parts wonderfully. There was even a brief slapstick piece, and some adventurous aerial work.

Stage manager Daniel Ramsell, assisted by ASM Rod Padget and a sizeable crew, were quick and efficient.

The lighting effects were very good, congrats to operator Jamie Cook and his Follow Spot operator Nina O’Doherty. Perhaps dim the lights when the set changes are taking place? The sound design by Ian O’Doherty is very good, with numerous ‘boom booms’ to emphasise the corny punchlines. The backing music (musical arranger Nick Choo) was at a sensible level for the cast to sing comfortably, without battling an ear-splitting band. Merri Ford and Maddy Connellan’s costumes were colourful and creative. Hideous outfits for the Dame, and beautiful for Marian. Woofy’s big black and white dog suit must have been crippling to wear, but George was still amazingly acrobatic.

A fun show for all of the family. Very clever, great to see the panto traditions being carried on with such finesse.

This GRADS production, under the eye of producer Arnold Wong, is two and a half hours of traditional fun. It begins at 7.30 pm at the Playlover’s theatre in Hackett Hall, Draper Street, Floreat; the season runs until December 20^th.

Stephen Lee and Jonathan Beckett designed the sets, which are brightly painted in primary colours. The street scene has a couple of shops, one of which is Widow Twankey’s laundry. Then there is the treasure cave scene that produces the magical and opulent effect required. Finally, the Royal Palace has balcony and several pedestals with Ming vases sitting on top. Again this set is quite sumptuous, with good artwork by Jenia Gladziejewski.

          China Town’s laundry owner, Widow Twankey (Jarrod Buttery alternating with Barry Park) lives with her two sons, the handsome and talented Aladdin (Melissa Kiiveri) and her waste-of-space son, Wishee Washee (James Parker). Aladdin’s long lost uncle is Abanazar, the Evil Wizard (Grant Malcolm), who has re-appeared after many years, kindly offering to exchange old oil lamps for new.

        Nearby, live the sadistic, cold-hearted Empress of China (Kerri Hilton) and her beautiful daughter, Princess Balroubadour (Grace Edwards). A sexually frustrated cougar, So Shi (Lis Hoffman), attends The Princess. The Empress’s head adviser is the wise, Grand Vizier (Jonathan Beckett), but the Empress rarely listens to his advice.

        Peking has two law officers, the strict policeman Ping (Judd Millner) and the easy going, Pong (Jennifer van den Hoek), neither of whom seems to do their job particularly well.

        It become clear that whoever owns the magic ancient lamp also gets the Genie of Lamp (Kate O’Sullivan), a beautiful servant that will carry out the owner’s every command.

Every pantomime should open with a high-quality, lively number and musical director, David Harries, ensured this. The opening sequence included plenty of good, well-synchronised choreography (Seanne Sparrow) from the village children. Although aged from about 5 to 10, they all seemed to have great stage presence. They smiled, performed acrobatics and yet never lost a beat with their singing. Often in pantos, there is the odd little stage-struck youngster who just lives on another level, but here the whole team were focused, and performed beautifully. (The town’s inhabitants were Naomi and Rebekah Andrews, Julia and Mercy Anthony, Andre and Marie Beidatsch, Eliza, Felix and Sharon Malcolm, George O’Doherty and David Raeburn – with a special appearance by the stage manager Glynis Best).

Various primary schools appeared in each show, these included St Norbet, MLC, Darlington, Sawyers Valley and West Byford. By having a different school each night, meant that the children do not tire too easily and that all of their relatives guaranteed a full audience every evening.

Wendy Lui’s Chung Wah Dance Group brought an authentic Chinese act to the show by performing a complex ribbon dance. Very impressive.

John Woolrych’s exceptional lighting design was operated slickly by Cedric Beidatsch. The sound called for several split second cues and numerous sound effects, all co-ordinated perfectly by Richard Kalukal.

There are several points that should appear in all of the traditional pantomimes and renowned British Director, Stephen Lee, ably assisted by Sarah Courtis, conquered them all. The leading ‘boy’ slapping his thigh and swaggering (well done Mel K), a colourful simple minded Dame (Jarrod nailed it on the night I saw the show), an evil person for us all to hate and boo – but who can work the audience up into a frenzy with their nastiness (Grant Malcolm captured the part perfectly), and some fine singing from Mel K, Kate O’Sullivan and Grace Edwards. Kate showed how lithe she was, by performing a wonderful piece of Genie magic, mysteriously appearing from a box on a table. Kerri Hilton’s portrayal of the Empress was wonderfully pan faced and creepy as she carried out her wicked deeds, inviting even more boos and hisses.

The musical background had many catchy tunes, even a sing-along in Cantonese!! There was the usual collection of Christmas cracker quality jokes, but the audience love to groan and shout back. Stephen’s script linked the Chinese life to the present day audience with numerous references to the ‘lousy script’, and ‘what do you expect for $25?’

A very strong cast, who all gave the audience what they came to see, fun, frolics, audience verbal participation and a smile to go home with. A fast paced, well-rehearsed performance, well above standard. A great show.