Kett's annual pantomine kicked of the Christmas festivities
The Christmas festivities began; with Ketts annual pantomime, a well known success, attended by many staff and parents of the Kett pupils. This years pantomime saw the performance of Pinocchio, directed by Amy Ajeto and Daniel Pemberton who, both, in recent years have taken to the stage and performed for us in many different roles.
This adaptation of Pinocchio was about Stromboli, (played by Joshua Pemberton) the evil puppet master, owing his great rival Artichoke Gosling, (Joe Hunter) a lot of money. Stromboli is broke so hatches a plot to marry Duchess Chloroform, (Gabrielle Ditton) for her money. During this time we meet Geppetto (Josh Smith) who owns the inn, he owes rent money to the Duke (Ben Slater). To get more money he makes Pinocchio, (Matt Hunter). Later the Blue Fairy (Dan Wright) brings Pinocchio alive and he is tricked into joining Stromboli’s puppet show, by Foulfeather (Milly Dove), Trikshift (Julia Bunbury), and Swindell (Grace Roffe).
Pinocchio overhears Stromboli’s plan to marry, and kill the Duchess, so Stromboli must get rid of him. Pinocchio escapes and Stromboli chases him into the wood, where the Weird Sisters (Steph Palmer, Emily Neep, Paige Roberts Clarke and Malika Kingwell) protect him. The Weird Sisters have cause to hate Stromboli and get their revenge on him. Finally, Pinocchio achieves his greatest wish to become a real boy. Everybody is happy - Hurrah!
The atmosphere was great; there were lots of laughs that came from the performance, in particular the scenes with Dan Wright acting as a dame, the blue fairy. Felix Faire added his talents though the productions second Dame, Mrs Geppetto, who worked very well with Geppetto - a camp wood carver, performed by Josh Smith. Other highlights included Holly Anderson playing Figaro, Pinocchio’s conscience, and her amusing improvisations due to Matt Hunter forgetting his lines, which made the play all the more comical. Not forgetting the sixth form boys and their entertaining dance to Call On Me, this was a very enjoyable to watch and I’m sure that they enjoyed themselves too, a little too much you may say, being dressed as women.
The pantomime was one of the longest productions held in Kett, consequently there was an interval with a chance for parents to talk about the first half performance whilst drinking punch and eating from the buffet. This added another good touch to the evening.
A personal highlight through the rehearsals came from the first time the cast has seen Pinocchio’s extended nose, this caused many laughs though the cast and myself, as this was not an ordinary nose as it was very miss shaped.
Everyone in the cast and crew should be very happy with their performance as it was a huge achievement and a fun experience.
Stumble upon Digg
this del.icio.us
Read other articles in
Kett