REVIEW | Snow White, Greenwich Theatre
Written by Penny
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for a review
The Greenwich Theatre panto has a great reputation and a loyal local fanbase. This year’s offering is Snow White, for which writer and star Anthony Spargo has taken a slightly different approach, setting the action in and around wicked Queen Narcissus’ ice palace. Although the story has a few original twists and turns, it still has all the ingredients for a Christmas classic– a love story, a comedy sidekick, a villain to boo, cute puppets, and jokes galore for panto lovers of all ages.
The set and costumes from designer Emily Bestow are impressive – the main theme is a wintery colour palette of purples, blues and silvers – contrasting well with the warmer colours of Snow White’s costume and the cosy cottage of the dwarfs. The core set revolves to make full use of the relatively small stage area and enable swift scene changes.
With slick direction from Greenwich Theatre’s Creative Director, James Haddrell, the show is performed by a small cast of just eight actors, accompanied by a three-piece band led by Musical Director and Greenwich panto veteran “Uncle” Steve Markwick, enjoying his 17th panto season at the theatre. Uncle Steve and Gordon Parris (guitar) are an important part of the show, dressed up for the occasion and getting involved with some of the jokes. Drummer Chris Wyles is not on stage but makes his presence felt with his rhythmic prowess. They produce an excellent sound that gets everybody’s feet tapping but without overwhelming the cast’s vocals.
Spargo’s script has something for everyone. He has taken the classic Snow White story and given it a modern twist with plenty of topical references alongside the cheesy panto humour that everyone expects. There are references to Liz Truss, The Traitors and lying fools who should consider becoming MPs! Set pieces with clever rhyming and wordplay and even a round of Mastermind go down well with the audience.
The seven dwarfs are “played” by puppets, voiced by the cast members. We get around the fact that the well-known Disney names can’t be used in any productions of Snow White by having the dwarfs explain that they’ve been through several name changes as their group has grown – going from Ant and Dec, through the Beatles, the Spice Girls and up to their current seven piece, with names chosen by a creative agency in an expensive rebrand! Although they don’t have a huge amount to do compared perhaps to the original Snow White story, they are involved in the big finish, with a fun twist that sees some flying that may not rival Miss Saigon’s helicopter but still gets the audience cheering.
There’s an eclectic mix of music – most of it a great choice and very well received. There are plenty of songs from iconic female stars – Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Lizzo – but it’s not all about girl power. There’s also room for Queen and even the Sex Pistols! Queen Narcissus’ rendition of punk classic “God Save The Queen” is the panto sing along I never knew I needed! An adapted version of “Working in a Coal Mine” for the dwarfs and the inevitable Frozen song “Love is an Open Door” felt a little shoe-horned in but the show is so fast moving that if a number doesn’t grab your attention, we’re soon onto the next one. The cast are all great singers and perform with great energy and simple but effective choreography from Nancy Kettle.
Leading the cast is Anthony Spargo as Queen Narcissus – he bursts onto the stage dressed like a deranged Elsa from Frozen, serving arch villain realness. With his Queen character replacing the traditional dame, he takes on a lot of the audience interaction, flirting with the men and snarling at the children with gusto and glee. He’s a fantastic performer and instinctively pitches his performance at just the right level of craziness. Although a lot of his musical numbers are delivered with a wicked snarl, the quality of his singing voice is still clear. Reminiscent of the great Kenny Everett at times, he is just on the right side of naughty, it’s all done in the best possible taste!
Often in panto, the Princess and her Prince are fairly one dimensional characters, just there to provide a sweet love story and a bit of jeopardy. As Snow White, Katie Tonkinson is no shrinking violet, she gives a gutsy and confident performance, instantly winning over the audience and showing off some beautiful singing and graceful dancing. She has convincing chemistry with her Prince, played by Tom Bales. This role is perhaps a little bit underwritten but he still has a chance to impress with his own vocals and has the required charming stage presence to play Prince Charming of Chamington! I would have liked to see a little more banter with him and the Queen as his horror at her predatory charms was very funny.
A stand out performance came from Louise Cielecki as Muddles the Jester. She had fantastic energy from the start of the show which never dropped however many times she jumped onto the stage with a cry for the audience of “Who wants a Muddles cuddle?” – the positive response to this didn’t flag throughout the show, a credit to her presence and enthusiasm. She also had an opportunity to show us her stunning singing voice in her big number, dropping the brilliant OTT comedy to give an emotional rendition of “You’ve Got To Have Heart”.
Returning to this year’s panto, in the role of Herman the Huntsman, is Martin Johnston. He is perfectly cast as the servant of our wicked Queen, who dares to defy her and help our heroine. It’s heartening to see his character move from a grumpy taskmaster to one of the gang, winning over the other characters and the audience.
The famous magic mirror, played by Deearna McClean acts as a narrator, setting the scenes and trying to stand up to the Queen with well delivered sassy rhymes. She only has one chance to take centre stage and impress with her powerful singing voice, but safe to say she makes the absolute most of it.
Greenwich Theatre is a strong advocate for nurturing new talent and it is great to see two second year students from prestigious local arts college Trinity Laban making their professional debuts as our ensemble. Bekah Thompson-Phiri and Jessica Murphy provide excellent backing to the soloists, both vocally and with some great dance moves and get involved with the audience.
The traditional birthday shout-outs and sing-along, led by Muddles and the Mirror, show the broad appeal of the Greenwich panto. There are birthday mentions for people aged from 10 to 65 and everyone from the smallest child, possibly at their first live show, to the older members of the audience appears to be loving every minute of it. This production of Snow White doesn’t need a soap actor or reality TV star to make it a hit. It is a well written and presented slice of festive family fun that is a perfect fit for the Christmas season.
At Greenwich Theatre until 07 January 2024.
