It was time to climb aboard the good old SS Pantomime and join the Wight Island Players for a joke-filled, family- friendly show, Robinson Crusoe! Packing an eager audience into the well-appointed Bembridge Village Hall myself and the rest of the W-G family waited to be entertained with some jolly good fun and thankfully we were not disappointed. What followed was a tightly run panto ‘ship’ full of all the trimmings and essentials that you would expect! Well done Wight Island players!

Having time to glance through the programme, the production is clearly a team effort with people taking on multiple roles led by Anna Shiner at the helm as Director and Producer. There was a real sense of community spirit in the hall as the audience heartily greeted the sparkly Calypso -The Spirit of The Seven Seas. Heather Austin plays this magical character and proves to be a powerful ‘Fairy Godmother-esque’ for our title role Robinson Crusoe.

As there are another three performances of this show we will not give away any plot spoilers but the show is based around the exploits of the Crusoe family and their adventure to a treasure island. They are pursued at every turn by the fearsome Blacktashe (John Poerscout-Edgerton) and the hapless but lovable Winkle – Lynda Rogers. The motivating force in the Crusoe family is the formidable Dame Crystal – Chris Stroud. Chris is a cheery dame who commands the stage and bounces off the other characters whilst driving the scenes forward with good solid comic timing. Her worn down husband Captain Crusoe (Keith Partington) provides a good foil to the silliness on stage, whilst cracking a few well measured jokes himself.

It is the two Crusoe children that bring the gusto to the stage. Tom Spicer as Sprat Crusoe barrelled through the show with multiple skits, jokes, routines and trousers that brought sniggerers and laughs from young and old; sometimes for very different reasons! A particular highlight for us all was his batter tongue-twister- we were all in awe of your ability to pull this off! Bravo! Robinson Crusoe was ably brought to life by Tamara Rush. She managed to take part in all of the japes on stage and pace-fully move the story forward with her strong dialogue and assured movement.

Accompanying the comic treasure adventures of the Crusoe family were a range of ensemble numbers including a spirited maritime-themed tap number, ‘Cannibal Carnival’ and a jaunty Pirate sea shanty. The youth chorus were a great support to the production and managed to bring enthusiasm to their parts in the play. The adult chorus also managed to weigh in with some witty one-liners and brought depth to the ensemble dance numbers. Troy Harris and Alan Peelo are worth a notable mention for their levels of energy and delivery of solo lines especially as the Baker and the Candlestick Maker- we enjoyed their performances very much.

Whilst galavanting across the sea on their ill-fated treasure hunt, Robinson is not only pursued by the dastardly Blacktashe but also by his love-to-be Polly Perkins – Trudy Wilson. Polly commits to following her true love on his treasure-finding mission even though it is against the wishes of her stern mother, Patricia Perkins’ – Teri Harris. Trudy brought energy and excitement to her role and gave a spirited solo rendition of ‘What’ll I Do?’. Other roles of Town Crier and Friday were played with gusto by Val Michalski, whilst pleasingly some members of the youth chorus took other named roles- Lylah C as the Butcher and Annabelle W and Lucy-Ann R as the Ghosts.

The terrible two that tried to ruin the Crusoe’s fun were well cast in their roles and brought a good level of comedic menace encouraging a great deal of booing from the audience. Blacktashe was suitably scary and successfully terrorised the hapless family across the seas and onto the secret Thousand Island. John’s acting was very well measured and he had an excellent piratic accent and great diction.

Winkle was an excellent comic sidekick to her formidable captain, played with a cheerly but witless outlook leading to a classic panto baddie duo!

Throughout the show scenes moved with good pace (with only a couple of exceptions) and transitions were managed well on the whole. The creative team and performers must receive particular credit for the underwater scene. As promised no spoilers but it was very well executed and a real highlight for all watching. The scenery was bright and well suited to each section of the show. The ‘messy scene’ was funny and the Tempest storm scene was also well implemented. The quality of the lighting should also be acknowledged here with great coverage and intended effects that supported the scenes well delivering different special effects.

All-in-all Robinson Crusoe is a classic, traditional panto that runs with good pace and has lots to offer for both young and old. We are sure that if you are looking for a fun evening out, that will bring many laughs and good cheer, you will find it here at Bembridge Village Hall. At the time of writing Robinson Crusoe has three more shows left to perform. We do hope to visit again next year!