Broadstone Pantomime Society 
Broadstone Memorial Hall, Broadstone
Oscar Trehane 
10 January 2026
One of my favourite things about being a reviewer is having the opportunity to go and see real community theatre at its very best. Controversially, to me, community theatre isn’t at its very best when it is polished and ultra-professional, with big budgets and impressive venues. No, community theatre to me is the small groups of diverse individuals, getting up on a stage and giving it their all, in the name of family entertainment, charity, and pushing oneself to do something out of their comfort zone.
So, you can imagine my joy when I walked into Broadstone Memorial Hall, to be greeted by two police officers (Vincent Sherry and Amanda Senitt), already in character and mingling with audience members. I was told to be on the lookout for breakfast stealing “cereal criminals” (with golden locks) and a big scary wolf! I took my seat in this charming little venue and the show began.
Broadstone Panto’s Little Red Riding Hood follows the tale of Little Red, who is off to her sick Grandma’s house to deliver cakes (since when did that become a thing?), but will she make it there without encountering a few incidents? In this delightfully whimsical original adaptation of the tale, Broadstone Panto have woven in characters from across the fairytale world to create a story of adventure, courage, and redemption.
This show was very well written by Leah Jane (who also played Goldilocks in the show) and Rachael Cheeseman, and directed by Emma-Louise Pottinger. Right from the very start of the show I could tell how much hard work and love had been poured into this particular production by the creative team. The cast were well prepared, and the sets looked absolutely stunning! The lighting was very well designed despite the limitations of a small community hall; however the sound did leave something to be desired, often overpowering the cast, many of whom were not amplified. I was sat in the front row for this show and often found myself struggling to hear some lines.
We opened the show with a safety announcement from our two baddies, the henchmen to the all-powerful Godmother (Slaney Gilson), Badabing (Jenny Hughes), and Badaboom (Emma-Jane Green), who delivered the announcement in the form of a song! More specifically, Be Our (safe) Guest, from Beauty and The Beast. This was a delightful surprise and not something I’ve come across at a production before.
We then meet our Dame, Little Red’s mother, Dame Hood. Enthusiastically played by Terry Madge, he (she?) certainly met all the requirements for a pantomime dame! Over the top costume, heavy makeup, and an awkwardly high speaking voice with a powerful baritone singing voice!
The part of Little Red was double cast in this production, with the part belonging to both Maddy Robertshaw and Roxie Yates, though in the production I saw, Red was played by young Maddy. Maddy’s facial expressions and commitment to character was admirable, and you could see the amount of heart that she poured into this character. There were times when you could see her nerves, which is understandable as a young performer, but she powered through like a true thespian! The audience really seemed to enjoy Maddy’s wonderful song in the second act, which she did a fantastic job with, despite a very noisy scene change happening behind her.
Malachi Pike brought an impressive performance to this show, playing the part of Jim Downdarowd, the lovesick and awkward teen who has a thing for Little Red. His physical comedy and audience interaction skills were top-notch, and he did really well when confronted with an unexpected reaction from the audience, meaning he had to improvise. Very well done, young man!
We can’t mention Jim Downdarowd without mentioning his father, Oliver Downdarowd, played with confidence and cheeky charm by Matt Tyler. I found Matt’s performance very engaging and natural, with just the right level of cringe. And what a fantastic singing voice on that man!
An honourable mention must go to Robin Hood (Khaya Moyo-Bird) and his merry men, Will Scarlett (Brayden Smith), Little John (Khanyile Moyo-Bird), and Friar Tuck (Sophie Brackenborough), who provided excellent comic relief as the Gen-Z boy group, with a completely unintelligible script full of slang that this reviewer is far too old to understand. Luckily the writers thought of this and had Will Scarlett translating for us! A lovely touch.
The writers did a fantastic job of weaving in other fairytale characters whilst still keeping the story intact. Another example of this was Goldilocks, the delinquent teen criminal, who is known for breaking into people’s houses and stealing their breakfasts! Leah Jane played this part brilliantly, with just the right level of sass and antidisestablishmentarianism, before being caught and thrown in jail to meet the eccentric and quite frankly insane Dungeon Master. David Gigg was completely unhinged with this role, and it was absolutely perfect. The prisoners (Cheryl Conner, Karen Havelock, Suzi Macleod, Michael Rustici and Jenny Davidson) did a fantastic job playing off of his insanity, which made their scenes some of the best flowing in the show!
Last, but certainly not least, I must give a very big congratulations to Mr Cameron Elliot, who brought villainous charm and a commanding stage presence to the big bad wolf in his panto debut! His performance of Hungry Like the Wolf was nothing short of amazing, from his sparkly-clad backup dancers, to his commitment to the song, even when it got a bit repetitive towards the end of the number and the dancers decided to comically depart. The wolf was by far my favourite part of this show, and I loved his scene with Grandma (Lauren Moses), which was not only a surprise, but full of hilarious easter eggs and references! I won’t give too much away on that one, you’ll just have to go and watch the show!
Overall, a great time was had by both the cast and audience in this production, and the show was heartwarming and entertaining. I especially loved how the cast stayed on stage after the show to take pictures with the kids. This was community theatre at its very finest! Bravo, Broadstone Panto, for an admirable performance.
