2026 - Beauty and the Beast

Russell Players – Beauty and the Beast by James Barry.

Following our successful pantomime, we have received wonderful feedback about the high-level of acting and the professionalism of the production as a whole.  We are pleased to share the review written by Ellyn Wright.

“This panto season, the Russell Players transported audiences from Swallowfield to Northern France with their boisterous take on Beauty and the Beast. Fairy Fifi (Caroline Waterer) set both the scene and the stakes, acting as our glittering guide through this fantastical world. She was delightfully countered by her rival, the perfectly arch Malevolent (Ashleigh Baker), who proved to be everything you want from a panto villain. From impeccable cape-ography to a cackle that reverberated backstage, Baker fully committed to the role, even nailing Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance alongside her demon sidekicks (Barbara Stanley and Sheila Partington). Classic panto pun-ery came courtesy of Dolly Dolittle (Lynn Wright) and her son Wally (Andy Witting), the Beast’s servants. Their warm, yet chaotic energy and excellent comic timing had the audience fully engaged, delivering laughs for children and adults alike. Bouffon du Quiff (Nigel Adams) was perfectly pompous, complete with an outrageously OTT French accent and swaggering strut around the audience. He even gave away signed photographs as we cheered and clapped to his entrance music; Right Said Fred’s “I’m too sexy (for my shirt)” – as if it could have been any other track! Belle’s mother Josephine (Deni Smale) brought a sardonic wit to proceedings, with plenty of crowd work and confident ad-libbing. A special mention must also go to Gigi the horse (Sarah Mapleston) who gave a fantastic fully mimed performance full of character and charm. At the heart of the story was our heroine Belle (Zaira Kapacee), who never failed to put Bouffon firmly in his place with a knowing smile. Her romance with Prince Vince, or the titular Beast (Henry Finney) served as the classic fairytale narrative, with Finney’s growling, gravelly voice selling the anguish of a prince cursed and locked away from the world. Kudos must also be given to the colourful and creative sets (Juliet Devon Chris Partridge and Bryan Partington) and the rest of the backstage team and front of house, Margaret McDonald, Victor France, and Debbie Johnson. Directed by Deni Smale and produced by Juliet Devon (the latter operating the lights and sound with skill and timing), this production truly delivered everything you want from a panto: outrageous jokes, silly accents, bright costumes, audience participation and, of course, a happy ending. The icing on the cake at the final performance came from a small child in the front row, so completely enraptured that their urgent cries of “she’s behind you!” and “she’s an evil witch!” only added to the laughter in the hall. Seeing someone so young believe so wholeheartedly in the make-believe captured exactly what panto – and theatre more widely – is all about.”

Ellyn Wright

We are delighted to say the production made a profit a proportion of which will be sent to the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

Thank you to everyone who supported our production and helped make it such a success.

 

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