BEAUTY
AND
THE
BEAST
at
the
Mercury
Theatre,
Colchester
03.12.2011
The
Mercury's
lavish
Christmas
shows
are
among
the
brightest
of
the
repertory
pantos.
This
year's
Beauty
and
the
Beast,
written
and
directed
by
Janice
Dunn,
has
all
the
traditional
Colchester
elements
in
place.
First,
the
superb
sparkly
design
[Foxton]:
a
crazy
enchanted
forest,
at
the
heart
of
the
plot,
with
its
gnarled
branches
and
Magic
Flute
serpent.
It
has
a
green
glade
stage
right
for
the
Good
Fairy
Rosa
[Josephine
Warren],
and
a
sinister
lair
opposite
for
the
evil
Botoxia,
though
she
seems
to
pop
up,
unwanted,
everywhere,
with
her
amazing
costume
and
make-up.
The
show
still
boasts
some
proper
dancing
[choregrapher
Cydney
Uffindell-Phillips,
dance
captain
Daniel
Tawse]
and
the
wonderful
Mercury
Junior
Chorus,
this
year
disguised
as
super
furry
animals
and
the
Toxic
Monkeys.
And,
in
the
pit,
genial
Graeme
Du
Fresne
and
his
men,
with
an
eclectic
mix
of
music,
including
the
season's
most
unlikely
segue,
from
Lady
Gaga
to
Carousel
and
back
again,
in
Belle
and
the
Beast's
Act
Two
duet.
The
twist
this
year
was
the
ecological
re-write
of
the
old
tale,
with
Clare
Humphrey's
vile
Botoxia
["nobody
likes
you!",
one
tot
called
out
from
the
stalls]
scheming
to
turn
the
palace
into
a
factory,
replace
the
forest
with
concrete
and
choke
the
earth
with
foul
pollutants.
The
Beast,
impressively
sung
and
spoken
by
a
lithe,
fiddle-playing
Pete
Ashmore,
turns
out
to
be
her
brother,
and,
though
he
is
transformed
at
the
end,
it
is
merely
a
spiritual
transformation.
I
liked
the
interplay
between
Ashmore
and
his
Belle
[Emily
Bull],
a
very
rom-com
courtship
this,
adding
girl
power
to
the
PC
ticklist.
Maybe
the
younger
patrons
would
have
liked
more
of
the
slapstick
and
the
quickfire
silly
gags,
rather
than
all
that
Green
allegory.
We
did
have
David
Tarkenter
and
Thomas
Richardson
as
a
poacher
double-act
[a
splendid
"ghost"
routine,
pursued
by
a
bear],
Mercury
stalwart
Roger-Delves
Broughton
as
poor
old
Bertie,
and
the
energetic,
appealing
Dale
Superville,
this
year
playing
Rolo
the
Ranger,
at
his
best
as
his
alter
ego
superhero
Pie-Man.
Ably
assisted
by
Squirrel
Nutcase,
a
distant
cousin
of
Basil
Brush.
It
was
Ignatius
Anthony's
turn
to
don
the
frocks
this
year,
and
a
splendidly
butch
Dame
Twiggy
he
made,
with
his
coop
of
clucking
beauties.
Old
Mother
Riley
was
referenced
in
the
script,
in
the
programme,
and
in
the
lovely
little
bit
of
an
Irish
Reel.
We
cheered
as
Botoxia
finally
sank
into
the
Quick
Sand
and
the
rhyming
couplets
rounded
off
another
Mercury
pantomime.
We
even
sang
the
interminable
Flower
Song
while
everyone
changed
for
the
excellently
staged
wedding
walk-down
– a
regal
yellow
furry
creation
for
Ignatius
– with
the
Monkeys
changed
back
into
the
innocent
village
children
as
the
forest
is
saved
for
the
future.
production photo by Robert Day
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