The Snow Queen

The Snow Queen (Brittany Brown) (boo/hiss) arrived at the Northbrook Hall Micheldever determined to make us all live permanently in Winter with the help of her Chief Scientist (Chris Tee) and the frozen heart of Olaf (Willow Wren). She had to be stopped. How could Micheldever be plunged into permanent Winter! Luckily the intrepid Madame Beetroot (Charles Church), Greta (Lucy Walker) Tomas (Sian Rodd) and the Old Wise Woman (Sea Furlong) were prepared to risk all and travel to the Snow Queen’s Kingdom to save us from an icicle filled future.

With plenty of adventure along the way (it’s behind you) (Oh no you can’t) and a little help from the Snow Queen’s traitorous Lord Chancellor (Kate McMorrow) and Ice Captain (Niamh Joyce) as well as a delightful Snow Princess (Emellia Black) who, thankfully, could see the advantage of having Greta as a BFF (Best Friend Forever) over permanent Winter, the snarling Snow Queen’s plan was foiled, the Ice Troll King (Pat Berry) was able to provide the directions home and, as is apparent for all to see, Spring has indeed been allowed to return to Micheldever for another year. Phew.

We were newbies to the Micheldever Variety Group Pantomime but were encouraged to buy tickets primarily to watch one of the younger performers on his stage debut. It was a joy to see so many younger members of the community performing on stage. They really were the stars of the show particularly in their rendition of Naughty from Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical as the opening to the second half. I think we counted 14 children on stage which is a wonderful attribute to each one of them and to the supportive Micheldever Variety Group as a whole.

From the very beginning this was a joyful production which carried the audience with it from beginning to end. Full of traditional pantomime favourites, a Dame, a Villain, a well timed comedy duo Ying (Emily Jordan) and Yang (Belinda Hughes) as well as plenty of audience participation, mostly in the correct places, made this a community production without a weak link.

Wonderful direction from Vicki Rodd, great costumes, great music and great cast. Can’t wait to see what they do next but most of all thank you Micheldever Variety Group for all your hard work and for bringing joy to the Northbrook Hall over an otherwise dreary January weekend.

Simon and Anne Freeland