St Cuthbert’s ADS staged the pantomime 'The Camel Lot' at St Cuthbert’s C of E Primary School. The show told the story of three knights and their quest to win a fair maiden’s hand in marriage. Sir Lovesalot won the tournament, but the evil wizard Merlin and the sore loser Knight Sir Galabad kidnapped, Sir Lovesalot would only be release if a huge ransom was paid. The Queen and Princess went to rescue her future husband with the help of the unlikely super hero Panda Man, with the super powers of a panda, and the two silly billy’s Du and Tu. This rescue mission was successful and everyone got a happy ending including Merlin. We also discovered who Panda man actually was before the finale of the show, where the princess married her knight. 

 

The show had a good cast with people of many ages being involved. It is nice to see a variety of ages on stage, as some societies do struggle to achieve this. Some of the principle cast took on unusual characterisations for a pantomime and not what would be seen at typical, but on a whole these worked very well and entertained all who watched.

 

The show provided traditional entertainment which was suitable for all the family. There were numerous good comedy moments and the one liner jokes happened throughout. The comedy was both aimed for the younger and older audience alike. Audience participation was encouraged and provided the cast with extra material to ad-lib off. For a pantomime it had all the key elements with the Goodies, the Baddies, Silly Billies, a ghost scene and a song sheet which all had the desired effect. Due to us watching the last performance certain members of the cast added extra and unscripted things in the show. This distracted slightly from the production and interrupted the pace at which the show was going. This stated the overall pace of the show was adequate for the story to be told.

 

The technical aspects of the show were well managed, with sound and lighting both being good thought out. The stage and set were well designed and the props team need to be acknowledged as there were countless props used in almost every scene. 

 

Our favourite section of the show was the Great Lake scene. The use of UV lights worked very effectively and the younger cast members with UV ribbons acting as the water and dragons in the lake followed by the main cast then being in a boat and fighting off a dragon was interesting to watch. This was a very cleverly directed and well designed scene, the production team need to be acknowledged for this. 

 

Overall this show entertained all who watched and the community spirit within this society really beamed out to the audience. The whole production was enjoyable and entertained both children and adults alike. We would like to thank St Cuthbert’s ADS for inviting us to their production and we look forward to seeing them again next year.

 

Author: Luke Taberer & Lloyd Bamber