Wight Strollers brighten up February with fun-packed pantomime

A PANTO? In February? Some people questioned my sanity when I said I was off to the pantomime this side of the New Year.

But here on the Isle of Wight, many people have a note in their diary to go and see the Wight Strollers perform panto during the February half-term. The full houses are testament to it.

This year the group performed Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, from a contemporary script full of fun, written by Sarah and Emily Scotcher.

There were a few big groups of children in on Saturday afternoon and the panto really hit the spot for them — there was a lovely amount of giggling from the audience throughout the entire show — which is of course what it is all about.

Sarah and Emily bagged the best roles, with Sarah as the Mighty Oak, an 8ft tree with a dry sense of humour, and Emily as Robin Hood, in that time-honoured but lesser-seen-these-days tradition of a woman playing the male lead.

Robin would have looked more dynamic with a feathered hat, but this didn't stop him rising to victory, leading his gang of Merry Men and marrying Maid Marian.

Ruby Barnett was a sweet Maid Marian, who spent most of her time trying to ward off the unwanted attentions of Marc Phillips as the Sheriff of Nottingham. Marc was brilliant as the leather-clad dastardly baddie out to kill the babes in the wood.

The babes, played confidently by youngsters Madeline Walker and Miley Hole, were rescued with the help of the audience and that all-familiar chant — 'they're behind you'!

Regular panto-goers will know that with John Woodford cast as the dame, they are in for a good show. There he was, all dolled-up as naughty nurse Nanny Nina, a role which gave him every chance to throw in as many double entendres and innuendoes as possible in his own inimitable style.

The cast, numerous dancers, supporting chorus, Kim Ball and Jamie Woodford in the band, and all those behind the scenes, combined to put on a very smooth show, and not only did they give us all a treat, they will donate all their profits to Isle of Wight charities.