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Yesterday, six children from Sherborne House School were invited to the Mayflower Theatre to watch this year's pantomime, Peter Pan, and write a short review for the show. The children were even invited backstage where they had the opportunity to meet the Grumbleweeds and Cassie who played Wendy. The children then bumped into Darren Day! Read their review below.
By the ‘Sherborne House School Primary Reporters’ - Maahum, Rudy, Helena, Ammar, Roxy and Ellie
When the lights dropped and the music started, we felt a tingle of excitement run through our veins. This was the moment we had all been waiting for - Peter Pan in panto at the wonderful Mayflower Theatre.
We were anticipating a very good show, filled with laughter and excitement - a fun-packed and entertaining feast for our eyes. We were not disappointed. It was all those things ...and more. A truly magical performance with a sprinkle of fairy dust!
The pantomime hooked us in immediately with an exciting film. The audience were whooping and whistling as Peter Pan entered, soaring around the stage. Speechless, the audience gasped as the flying hero greeted Wendy, John and Michael with a song we were all entranced by. Played by Jaymi Hensley (who has an angelic voice) we watched as Peter Pan took off to Neverland with the trio of children.
Marti Pellow- who played Captain Hook- was the villain we loved to hate. Like a menacing beast, he patrolled the stage, threatening the happiness of our favourite characters. He was constantly thinking up plots to bring an end to Peter Pan and his band of ‘Lost Children.’ The well-loved story was truly brought to life as we revelled in the villain’s ploy to pit Tinkerbell against Pan, with Hook taking advantage of the grumpy Tink who felt threatened by the arrival of Wendy.
The lovable Smee - Darren Day - interacted with us the whole time to make us laugh and have fun. His flag story was particularly punny - we wanted him to ‘Romania’ on the stage for longer. His light-hearted humour kept the story flowing and made us laugh throughout. Actually, a highlight for us was when... Smee shone, sending us spectacular tongue twisters such as “She sits and shines shoes” until eventually one of the characters, repeating his tongue twister, found their tongue in a tightly-tied knot!
Throughout the panto we were regularly visited by the entertaining Grumbleweeds who made us laugh with their stupidity - although we would advise them to remain fully clothed throughout the rest of their performances! Shocking...but very funny! One of our favourite parts of the panto was when the Grumbleweeds ‘pigeon in the box’ experiment went wrong! We won’t give it away but we can tell you that there was a loud bang and the result was both unexpected and funny.
We were wowed by the Timbuktu Tumblers, who provided us with some mesmerizing and astounding stunts. Some of the moves were very dangerous and risky and we were astonished by their ability to avoid setting themselves on fire and to be able to stack themselves up to the ceiling! The tumblers definitely were a real highlight of the show!
We were fortunate enough to have the privilege of meeting a select group of cast members after the performance; they very kindly took the time to answer some of our burning questions. We asked Cassie Compton - who played Wendy- if anything had ever gone wrong in the panto and were thoroughly entertained by her stories of Peter Pan spinning out of control in the air! The two Grumbleweeds gave us some good advice - always stay true to yourself. They said that at school, they were told off for being ‘idiots,’ yet now they have made a career out of it!
If you want a fantastic Christmas treat for the whole family, you must not miss out on the Mayflower’s 2019 pantomime! Laughs from the beginning, right to the very end where the final song had us all giggling! We don’t want to spoil any surprises, but must warn you ... watch out for the amazing ticking croc!