The 1st December means one thing (No, not the return of that pesky Elf) – It’s Panto season (Oh yes it is!) and what a way to kick off the festive season, watching Trinity Theatre’s production of Sleeping Beauty, directed by Tracy Howard.

As soon as we entered the Auditorium, it was full of decorations to get you in the festive spirit. The artistic back drops and the use of projection, helped compliment the simple – yet effective scenery throughout. 

From the dazzling costumes, to the extra festive lighting, it was evident that lots of hard work had been put in by the creative production team and crew – Kudos to you.

It’s always great to hear a live band and they really got the party started with the eclectic song choices – There was something for everyone. The band were led by Musical Director Luke Mulhern, who also wrote and produced the show.

The show kicked off and we were introduced to the 3 Fairies (played confidently by Anita Davies, Jess Felis and Shirley Denne) who worked well as a Trio, interacted brilliantly with the audience and displayed some impressive vocal harmonies throughout.

The audience quickly got stuck in, booing the evil ‘Carabosse’ every time she entered the stage. I was very surprised on reading this was Natalie De Gruchy’s first ever Panto, as she commanded the stage with her infectious energy, and created the perfect balance of evil, mixed in with some lighter comedy moments. Natalie’s ability to ad-lib during a few technical glitches, was impressive. 

Another stand out performance came from Jester Jez (Oliver Fry) who put in 100% energy to every scene. Oliver clearly enjoyed making the character his own and his lively performance lifted the scenes, gaining many extra well deserved laughs from the audience.

It’s never an easy task to keep up an accent throughout the entire show, but Aimee-Rose Howard did just that, taking on the role of French ‘Chef Fresh’ – also providing some funny moments, although at times, I felt lines could have been delivered even slower, in order to achieve maximum laughs. 

Of course, no pantomime is complete without a beautiful Dame and despite a few obvious first night jitters, Nick Simmonds gave a strong and witty performance as Nanny Nonsense and the audience interaction and participation sections were particularly enjoyable.

Princess Aurora (Lizzie Giakoumelos) and her love interest Bradley (Ruby Beaman) portrayed their lovable characters with confidence from the moment they stepped on the stage – They both had lovely singing voices and I would have liked to have seen more of these two on stage.  

Other smaller roles complimented the show well, including Lexi Skeldon-Downer and Maddie Cox as Caraboose’s evil side kick duo ‘Fetch and Carry’ who had good chemistry on stage. The King and Queen of France (Duncan Greaves and Amanda Robertson) and Gardener Green (Martin Deane), also delivered confident, consistent performances and projected lines well throughout.

The choreography was effective and the Adult chorus were enthusiastic and well rehearsed, however, it was the child ensemble that really stood out for me. In particular, the young girls portraying Princess Aurora through the years during the “When I Grow up” number, had huge potential to be future leading ladies with those beautiful singing voices. 

At times, scenes lacked a little pace and ideally it would have been a suggestion to cut a few songs, as this would’ve helped keep the duration of the first half down. Many moments were lost due to technical delays, however, those first night glitches didn’t take away the overall enjoyment for the audience and everyone involved should be proud of the hard work and commitment into making this a fun Panto for all ages. 

Sleeping Beauty runs until Sunday 10th December – with limited availability left, so get your tickets now and support this wonderful local theatre.

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Reviewed by Rosie Sales on 1st Dec 2023

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