Snow White - A new production for the Bentley Players.

This was our 20th year and we still had one pantomime left to complete the cycle of four performances of our five pantomimes. However, this was a special year, which required a special production, and so a new one was written and we presented Snow White and the vertically challenged. Clearly, it was our best ever which has now left us with the problem of 'what next'. The final audience vote unanimously for us all to return next year. At the end of the final performance donations of £150 each were presented to Bentley School, the Village Hall, and the Tsunami Fund.

Our willing support group was Ted Poole stage manager and scenery, Kim Eastall and Caroline Prangle costumes and property and Keith Philips (assisted by Peter Baldwin) sounds and lighting.

The cast in order of appearance were Bob Perkin, John Scoines, David Prangle, Caroline Prangle, Gordon Riley, Elizabeth Baldwin, Kim Eastall, David Eastall and Ted Poole.

Press Report: (by Michael Anderton)

'Plenty of laughs at the village pantomime'

To mark the 20th annual outing of the Bentley Players a new pantomime was introduced to their repertoire. Snow White was set in the kingdom of Baberghia and with a few variations from the original Disney version brought their usual brand of humour to an enthusiastic local audience. The first scene opened with the portly Tweedledee (Lord Chamberlain) played by Bob Perkin and his smarmy assistant Tweedledum played by John Scoines.

In his now familiar role as the panto dame, David Prangle put on a good show as the colourful Dame Good, whipping up the audience into a few hearty laughs. Next on the scene was the wicked Queen Matilda admirably played by Caroline Prangle. With much booing and hissing from the audience during the show, she received a loud round of applause at the end of the evening to mark her best performance award. With the Director's Australian connections I was expecting a verse or two of Waltzing Matilda but we were spared that.

As usual Gordon Riley put much effort into his role as the court jester and general cheer leader Little Chuck. He was deeply in love with a blonde Snow White (Elizabeth Baldwin) whilst Prince Henry (Kim Eastall) successfully chased around and married Snow White.

On such a small stage there was always going to be some difficulty for Seven Dwarfs to 'hey ho, hey ho and off to work we go' but ingenuity saved the day. The first most unlikely dwarf to appear was Monday, played by the tallest member of the cast David Eastall. He was then followed by Tuesday played by the ever popular Ted Poole, as always tripped through (over?) his lines. After they left the stage, the next to appear were Wednesday and Thursday played of course by David and Ted who again also appeared as Friday and Saturday. As for Sunday he was reported to be 'Bashful' and stayed in bed for the whole show. To identify each dwarf they carried name tags and wore different hats to try and avoid any confusion.

The usual requirement for line prompting for most of the cast caused plenty of laughter in the audience and with the usual sessions of 'oh yes he is' and 'oh no he isn't' everyone was able to take part in the merriment. As usual Keith Phillips managed the sound and lights with the assistance of Best Boy Peter Baldwin.

Charles Cripps wrote and directed the show and, when it was all over, presented cheques for £150 each to Bentley VCP School, the Village Hall Management Committee and the Asian Tsunami Appeal. The audience all voted that the cast should return next year and all being well we look forward to seeing them again in 2006.


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