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Review: Joshua Pascoe in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs panto, Swallows Leisure Centre, Sittingbourne

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the funniest panto of them all? This year it could be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Swallows Leisure Centre, Sittingbourne.

This wonderfully weird production is set on a do-it-yourself stage built of scaffolding and cloth on what normally doubles as a badminton court. Yet Trio Entertainment has once again successfully transformed the venue into once-upon-a-time land.

What the show lacks in state-of-the-art scenery (the backdrops are tugged by hand across the stage during black-outs) and special effects (four strategically-placed pyrotechnics) it more than makes up for with the sheer professionalism of the cast, expert choreography and a fast-paced script which takes no prisoners.

Joshua Pascoe as Muddles, Robert Brendan as Prince Lorenzo and Kate Greenwood as Snow White
Joshua Pascoe as Muddles, Robert Brendan as Prince Lorenzo and Kate Greenwood as Snow White

Scouser Paul Duckworth does his best to steal the show as Dame Nurse Nelly with his smart one-liners and surprise ventriloquist routine. I also counted eight costume changes but it could have been more.

But he was up against tough competition from Victoria Roberts, possibly the best Wicked Queen in the business.

Handsome princes don’t normally do much except turn up and kiss sleeping beauties but Sheppey’s Robert Brendan and his powerful voice were used to maximum effect to push the plot along.

Can true-love's kiss save Snow White?
Can true-love's kiss save Snow White?

Kate Greenwood is simply the perfect Snow White in both looks and demeanour and Coronation Street’s Steven Arnold (he played Ashley Peacock in the ITV soap) is spot-on with his pre-filmed contributions as the Man in the Mirror.

Joshua Pascoe, who played gay murderer Ben Mitchell in the BBC’s EastEnders, switches characters to become the excellent wide-eyed court jester Muddles loved by everyone.

The great thing about this panto is that it has a genuine family feel as the cast romps through Reece Sibbald’s laugh-out-loud script. The Don’t Go Breaking My Heart duet between Snow White and Prince Lorenzo turns into a refreshingly hilarious and novel “three-some” sketch when Muddles interrupts and everyone is hurled from a wall.

Comedy as Robert Brendan as Prince Lorenzo tries to serenade Kate Greenwood as Snow White when they are interrupted by Joshua Pascoe as Muddles
Comedy as Robert Brendan as Prince Lorenzo tries to serenade Kate Greenwood as Snow White when they are interrupted by Joshua Pascoe as Muddles

Dame Nellie’s tongue-twisting tale about the vessel with the pestle is to die for and there’s even a Sheppey gag to keep everyone happy. Nellie, Muddles and the Prince embark on a classic double-entendre sketch with two mobile phones but, unlike many other productions, it remains on the side of tasteful. A young boy to my right ended up convulsed in hysterics.

There are some nice lines in the forest about computers but if I revealed them I would have to kill you!

The Twelve Days of Christmas sketch never drags and ends in a water fight. Don’t forget to pack a mac.

Water fight with Paul Duckworth as Dame Nurse Nelly,Robert Brendan asPrince Lorenzo and Joshua Pascoe as Muddles
Water fight with Paul Duckworth as Dame Nurse Nelly,Robert Brendan asPrince Lorenzo and Joshua Pascoe as Muddles

The only reason you may feel short-changed is that the dwarfs are all children from the Kent School of Dance. But they do a magnificent job along with the school’s senior and juvenile dancers.

Just to warn you, the dwarfs’ names and words to some songs have been changed to appease copyright lawyers. And sometimes the ‘bed’ of music beneath the conversations between the Wicked Queen and the Mirror and on Snow White’s ‘death’ scene was annoyingly too loud and, in many cases, just not needed.

But apart from that, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a big hit.

Wicked Queen Victoria Roberts and Joshua Pascoe as Muddles
Wicked Queen Victoria Roberts and Joshua Pascoe as Muddles

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Swallows Leisure Centre, Sittingbourne, to Christmas Eve. Seats from £7.50 from 01795 420420 or www.sittingbournepanto.co.uk

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