Dick Turpin

DICK TURPIN by Henfield Theatre Company - A NODA review by Gordon Harris

Dick Turpin the Panto at The Henfield Hall this week was pure joy!!!.
Well done to all at Henfield theatre company, for taking a not so well known panto and making it a great evenings entertainment, and Graeme Muncer for directing it so professionally.
Graeme Muncer (Director), along with Jane Haines (MD) and Alice Forward as (Choreographer) picked their cast carefully and brought this Dick Turpin to a high standard indeed.
Set and costumes were very carefully thought through right down to the buckles on the gents shoes, these are details that are sometimes missed, it makes all the difference to see such detail, also in the props by Susie Shenton and Lighting by (Mike Cawte) were spot on.
It was good to see a band in the pit superbly conducted by Jane Haines and not clip tracks as many are nowadays… The sound was well balanced by Sam Barnett.  
Dame Dollop (Paul Woodcock) looked good and gave us the right amount of comedy as Dame. Nick and Nab (Tony Westwood and Ewan Fairchild) as the comic policemen gave us good timed comedy. Daisy the pet Cow of Dame Dollop (Gary Fyles and Trevor Hodgson) gave us some good footwork, as well as playing other small parts, as did most of the cast. Perfect characterisation came from Billy Bumkin (Ian Henham) with his Somerset accent and his facial expressions were exceptional. (Malcolm Harrington) playing 2 parts Parson Goodfellow and MR X showed us how a good transformation should be executed such a class actor, as was (Martin Love) as Lord Lotaloot with a good singing voice too. The Judge (John Coit) with Smash (Jonny Tysoe) and Grab (Michelle Edwards) gave us some great comedy moments.  
(Sharona Key-Barry) as Katie Cuddlesome had perfect stage presence and certainly made us see it…Great…. Now to the Love interest. Two ladies (Alice Forward) Caroline and (Lucy Walker) Dick Turpin, these two ladies were perfectly teamed together for their singing abilities, their harmonies were perfect. 
Our smiling younger members, Brooke Wells, Marisa Meinecke, Emily Katz, Rosanna May, Ashtyn Roworth and Heather Mitchell, gave us the aaarrrr factor.
This Dick Turpin was a joy to watch and well done to all concerned, in giving my guest and me a perfect evenings entertainment.