Robin Hood & the Babes in the Wood - the 1998 M.A.D. Pantomime by Vanessa K Breach

ROBIN HOOD &
THE BABES IN THE WOOD

Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood was staged at Bohunt on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th January 1998 with the preview for local groups on Thursday.

A Message from Vanessa	A brief plot outline and scenes	The Cast and Crew	Performance Pictures	A Review
Other Pantos	Email	Back to Main Panto Page

Vanessa's Message

On behalf of the M.A.D. Company I would like to wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year and welcome you to our 7th annual Pantomime- Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood. Based on a combination of two medæval legends, we have used, this year, a large slice of 'Pantomime licence' to take you from Nottingham, to the moon, and back again. Our brave hero Robin Hood, is going to need plenty of encouragement to save the babes from the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, and win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marion, so we need your help. We have been rehearsing for months now and having a great time, but we want to make sure that you have a great time too. So sit back and relax, but don't forget to join in with the cheers, the boos, and the hisses!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, The circus is coming to town .....!!"

Best wishes
Vanessa Breach, Chairman

Synopsis

Act I		Act II
Scene 1	A sunny day in Old Nottingham	Scene 1	On the Moon
Scene 2	A pathway to the Forest (Sheriff, Del & Rodney)	Scene 2	A pathway to the Forest (The Wishing Fairy)
Scene 3	A Clearing in Sherwood Forest	Scene 3	A Clearing in Sherwood Forest
Scene 4	A pathway to Nottingham (Dreammaker)	Scene 4	A pathway to Nottingham
Scene 5	Old Nottingham (The House Song)	Scene 5	Old Nottingham - the Archery Tournament
		Scene 6	Finale

Castlist

CAST


Robin Hood	Jackie Bruce	Maid Marion	Jo Evans
Sheriff	Steve Tarpey	Nurse Quiver	David Jenner
Jamie & Jemima	Rachel Bruce	Katherine Savage	(Sat AM,eve)
	Clare McCarthy	Hannah Tarpey	(Fri,Sat PM)
Del Boy	Mick Selley	Rodney	Glen Robertson
Friar Tuck	Mary West	Will Scarlett	Will Rawlins
Alan A'dale	Don Ellis	Little John	Ian Darnbrook
Wishing Star	Terri Darnbrook	Mystic Megs	Alison Ellis
Postman Pat	Phil Evans	Ringmaster	Vanessa Breach

Villagers and	Sharon Anderson
Circus Acts	Jenny Courtnage
	Kathy Carrig
	Sue Calvert
	Terri Darnbrook
	Amanda Gowers
	Mandy Godridge
	Lesley McCarthy
	Jo Raggett
	Carol Selley
	Jan Treacher-Evans
	Mary West
	Norma White
	Rebekah White

Children

Blair Anderson, Bethany Beach, Catherine Bruce, Rachel Bruce, Clare Carrig, Ben Ellis

Paul Gowers, Clare McCarthy, Emma Michaelson, Deborah White, Charlotte Selley, Becka Selley

Aaron Treacher-Evans, Megan Treacher Evans, Kate Williams, Hannah Tarpey, Joanna Wilson, Penny Wilson, Sally Wilson

Katherine Savage, Rebecca Savage, Megan Courtnage, Emily Courtnage, Alice Courtnage

Technical and backstage and others will be added soon.

Pictures of the Performance

Click on the little pic to get a bigger pic.

Del and Rodney pitch to the people of Nottingham	Silence !	Oh, Marion ....
Sherwood Forest here we come		The Sheriff gets at Del and Rodney
Will Scarlett comforts Maid Marion	Nurse Quiver	Men in tights
		The Sheriff spurns Nurse Quiver
The announcement	the prize is ...	Little John
Del & Rodney	The Circus	The Dancing Girls

	Nurse Quiver

Review

Many people thought we'd struggle this year after we'd lost Phil who moved to a new church in Camberley, and also Nigel who moved to Skelmersdale (and of course Judith and Emily). Some people thought we'd just fade away. Some didn't come because Phil wasn't in it. So everyone worked a bit harder. The sets and the scenery were better than last year, the costumes were wonderful, the colour was just stunning, the acting and the singing was terrific and the whole performance went brilliantly.
And did people come ? Yes - Saturday afternoon and evening were both sold out and was in fact was our biggest audience ever.
Not having Phil and Nigel could have been a problem but it just showed the amount of talent there is in the company. Everyone gave 110% and ensured that the show did go on.

Thursday preview performance
You don't really know how good the panto is going to be until you perform it with an audience - you can practice all the lines but you can't practice the 'Oh No I'm Not !' routine until you've got a hall full of people.
Well, Thusday we had a hall full and they loved it. Look behind you's and Oh Yes and Oh No by the bucketful. You could tell they knew what to do, in fact some were so eager they were dancing to the background music before we started, and one was on stage!
Steve turned his Sheriff up another gear to be really menacing and stuck up a great rapport with the audience (I think some may have even been cheering him .... maybe we need to rehearse some of the audience in booing baddies!).
The costumes - reds and yellows and purples looked stunning and everyone sang beautifully especially the children. The scenery worked really well, and the spaceship with full effects for the first time looked like it could really fly.
Postman Pat had all the little ones clamouring to shake his hand and stroke his cat.
Friday started a little slow but Steve soon had the audience going, and Saturday afternoon and evening were both full houses and there was a great atmosphere.
It was a really good couple of days, if you were there you had a night to remember, if you weren't, then book early for next year because it's going to be another great show.

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