REVIEW: There was a lot that was new about this Snow White from The Florians
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The Florians’ Snow White
Florians Theatre
Inverness
5 stars
There was a really fresh sparkle to this pantomime from The Florians – and Snow White was a creation for a 21st century transitional audience with one generation handing over the golden legacy of an accomplished team of players to another.
Directed by a busy Morag Russell – also named under costumes and helping out backstage – there was a lot that was new about this production which majored on fresh names and younger players recruited from the Junior Florians.
But it was also lovely to see some familiar faces in the cast – including Ann Bamborough as Jeff The Mouse and Brian Howlett named in the chorus.
The writing of Kieran J E Lochore added in a savvy and knowing edge to the comedy and the characterisation.
Prince Harmless (Lawrence Robins-Bird) made a wonderfully nerdy, lovable prince, quite the change from the normal, strutting, chest-puffing royal pantoland normally presents.
And by the same token, you wouldn’t mess with The Florians’ heroine Snow White (Lauren Walker) with her axe throwing, stargazing (you don't often hear astronomer Copernicus namechecked in a panto) and Doc Marten boots under her gorgeous party dress.
Morag Russell delightfully succeeded in her wish to reconfigure panto’s traditional heroic princes and needy heroines and the young audience member in front of me delighted in the couple’s common ground – computer games!
Chorus numbers were sharp and energetic thanks to Alan Banner’s choreography. And there was a real sense that everyone on stage was confident and enjoying themselves – and with the quality of the show, no wonder.
Local references peppered the show, from Muir of Ord to the Eastgate, Johnny Foxes to Millburn Academy. And lovely to see Snow White extending her boundaries as she declared her ambitious desire for great adventure “ … I’d like to go beyond Dalneigh!”
There was plenty of Scottish culture too, from shindigs to stovies, and one of the brilliant things about the seriously cute seven dwarves reimagined as seven drams was that they came with their own tasting notes! – “Strong, robust and with a bit of burnt smoke”.
Bertha (Simon Lyall) was a big, blokey dame with a waspish tongue and some of the night’s best lines. But the perfect foil to the ditsy charms of new-born party planner Jackie The Jester (TJ Cameron) was the demonically Evil Queen Alison Ozog revelling in the role. Loved her fast walk with little steps looking furious that made us all laugh. And also loved the line which allowed us to realise the true extent of her evil as Jackie the Jester revealed: “She was the only one to cheer at the end of the last Bond film!”
Lazy half of comedy duo To Do (Maddison Cameron) was the perfect opposite to the feisty Ta Da (Evie Donnelly) with their espionage efforts helping the plot fall into place.
It was hard not to have a soft spot for the supercilious Mirror (Matthias Kremer) with his subtle backchat to the queen, continental accent – and ingenious costume (big up to the costume team with Margaret Scoular).
Lisa Senior created the sort of capable Fairy Godmother we’d all love to have hovering behind us in life, and revealed a lovely voice in her version of It’s In His Kiss.
Some great songs were picked – Get The Party Started, the feelgood Proclaimers’ I’m On My Way near the end – and a highspot, the Mirror and Evil Queen’s take on A Fairytale Of New York – among them.
The forest animals were fun and a great way to pack more cuteness into the mix.
Behind the stage, there was also some great work going on – nice touches on sound from David Russell included The Apprentice music rolled out right on cue for the line from Jackie “I guess this job is an apprenticeship!” And in the forest, the lovely atmospheric sound of tweeting birds, just added to the scene-setting.
Favourite creative genius moment came with the Bohemian Rhapsody video redone with the aid of torches.
And the sidestep of the traditional wedding of the lead characters worked beautifully, The King (Donald Kennedy) getting his third chance at happiness with Bertha who had cared about him all along – “We found our match, it was under our noses all the time!”
The Florians give their pantos everything. And settling down to watch Snow White a day after seeing the professional Eden Court panto Peter Pan, who admittedly have less time to work on their production, this admiring viewer felt the amateur outfit should give themselves a massive pat on the back, using their time to pack their show with ingenuity and fun. Innovative, bold and taking no tradition for granted without making it earn its keep, this year’s was sold out before it opened. Unfortunately the amateur outfit have their normal lives to run around the panto, but it would be great if they could extend their run because you just feel sorry for people who didn't get the chance to add this joyful, laugh-a-minute experience to their festive 2022.
