Reviews

A dark, cold evening as January staggers into February, not much on the TV and the weather a bit grim – but if you go down to the New Forest, you’re in for a great surprise! The Burley Players will entertain you with their 2017 pantomime, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was interested to read in the programme as a packed audience waited for the show to begin that Little Snow White was first published in German by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, but the fairy tale of Snow White is thought to originate from the Middle Ages.

Dalmatians Pongo and Missis (and their human pets, Mr and Mrs Dearly) are eagerly expecting their first litter of puppies and are as excited as any new parents-to-be could be. But awaiting their puppies’ arrival with almost as much anticipation is the avaricious Cruella De Vil, obsessive wife of a rich, busy furrier, who has eyes on their beautifully spotted skins as fashion couture…. Helen Young is engaging as Pongo, confident in her asides and monologues to the audience and making an enchanting couple with Lauren Phillips as Missis. Tilly Emm is also very charming as the foster mother to

‘Alas poor Shakespeare, I knew him well’: and so this interesting choice of pantomime subject sends its audience on a bizarre journey of an Elizabethan romp, including a visit from Good Queen Bess herself (Julia Wheeler), beautifully bewigged and bejewelled, alongside potatoes-obsessed Sir Walter Raleigh (Alison Pugh). Various Shakespearean components arrive in the form of famous quotes and nods to plays, including Macbeth in the opening witches’ toil and trouble and thereafter Romeo and Juliet and his lesser-known blockbuster about a cheesy superhero wearing very tight pants. Rob Beadle brings his usual energy and stage presence to the role of Billy Shakespeare and Drew

The first problem a director faces with Snow White is what to do about the dwarfs. Using children is limiting, but Highcliffe and the surrounding area presumably do not have more than an average proportion of vertically challenged would-be actors. To find out how directors Paul Barrington and Charles Michael Duke solve the problem, you will have to see the show, but suffice to say that local gardeners may find it difficult to buy a pair of knee-pads for a while. It works very well and adds a lot to the comedy, even if seven slowly shuffling dwarfs do make

It can be a dull old time after Christmas and New Year: the parties are all over and spring still seems a long way away. How better to dispel the blues than with a classic farce? As one character in this production says, ‘It’s splendid, it’s chivalrous and it’s French!’ In fact this production is quintessentially French, first performed in Paris in 1851 and later as a silent film comedy in 1928. That is quite a pedigree, both forms requiring – as is still the case today – perfect timing, slick choreography and a willing suspension of disbelief. The plot

If you think by going to this production, you are going to get another version of Frankenstein, the classic Gothic horror story, think again. This play by Liz Lochhead is much more of a deep investigation into the lives of some of our most famous, infamous writers, philosophers and politicians. In that respect, it is a very ambitious play. Is a play in fact the right medium at all for this subject matter? Please believe your humble critic here: I had done my homework, re-read the novel, watched a video and mugged up on Wikipedia. I was intrigued to know