Knight Fever

All Saints Dramatic Society  Bournemouth Life Centre, Moordown, Bournemouth Caroline Burr

16 January 2025

Knight Fever by Trasler, Lovesy and Clark has King Arthur, his knights and the magician Merlin, pitted against the evil Black Knight. The hero of the piece, Justin Thyme (!), a humble stable boy, is in love with Princess Anna but cannot marry her until he becomes a Knight of the Round Table. An opportunity for heroism arises when the Black Knight and his accomplice Chardonnay Le Fay kidnap the Princess. Can the hapless Justin, Dame Doris and Lester the Jester rescue her and re-establish peace in Camelot?

There were some excellent performances including Georgie Drake as Lester. The duets with Chardonnay (Nicky Shipton) were particularly good, whilst her energy, enthusiasm and exaggerated facial expressions were infectious. This was just what was needed in her role as the unofficial MC and provided a golden thread throughout the production.

Other stand out performances came from Stevie Drogemuller as Princess Anna, who was perfectly cast as the heroine. She looked fabulous and not only sang and danced, but designed all the choreography. Jon Cockeram as the Dame is very watchable and was clearly having fun flirting with the Black Knight played by Tom Maslen. Tom made a good villain, complete with dastardly laugh and excellent make-up. It is clear that Nicky Shipton is really at home on the stage, she has a good voice and stage presence.

Mark Andrews, as King Arthur was suitably royal, while Victoria Liechti who played his long suffering wife Queen Guinevere, made the most of her small part. Merlin, played by Brian Foley, produced an interesting performance as the mysterious wizard. Jenni French did sterling work in the chorus, until appearing as the slightly confused Lady of the Lake. Dean Smith had onstage rapport between his character and the Princess, but seemed rather hesitant in the role. His performance would have benefitted from more energy, making it bigger and delivering the lines and songs with more confidence.

The four knights – Renée Claude, Sue Josey, Yvette Phillips and Jo Worley – enhanced every scene they were in, adding enthusiasm and fun. Special mention also needs to go to the ensemble who played knights and villagers, especially the youngsters Pandora Drake and Arwen Fassinger who were very cute!

Unfortunately the lack of offstage space made many of the entrances and exits problematic, as the actors had to come in and out through the large auditorium. This held up the action, contributed to a long running time and meant that the pace dropped. I would also have liked to see the excellent musicians. This would have provided some interest at the start of both Acts rather than the audience looking at an empty stage during the overtures.

The costumes were excellent, the simple lighting worked well and the scene changes were cleverly managed with the use of revolving flats, but there were problems with the sound. Although there appeared to be a very professional sound desk in use, the microphones tended to fade in and out, and were often not turned up quickly enough. This made it frustrating for the audience, as not all the speeches were audible.

Possibly due to first night nerves there were a few prompts, but overall the production is a very good one. The musical numbers such as ‘Go West’, ‘Night Fever’, ‘Always Look On The Bright Side’ etc were extremely well delivered.

Many different elements need to come together to ensure a successful pantomime, as there are so many areas to coordinate.  For any amateur group this is a very ambitious task. ASDS largely succeeded in all of these elements to produce a very enjoyable evening which the audience clearly loved.