I was invited, along with my family, ranging from 10 months to 67 years, to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at The Ropetackle and having seen last year’s production we were full of anticipation for a great visit.
To give you some background: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ as a panto is not a Disney reproduction but emerges from a centuries-old pedigree. The story is based on a fairy-tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les Contes Marins (The Young American and Marine Tales).
Villeneuve’s lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and published by French novelist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont in 1756 in Magasin des enfants (Children’s Collection)
to produce the most commonly retold version. Later, Andrew Lang retold the story in Blue Fairy Book, a part of the Fairy Book series, in 1889. The fairy-tale was influenced by the story of Petrus Gonsalvus as well as Ancient Greek stories such as “Cupid and Psyche” from The Golden Ass, written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis in the second century AD, and “The Pig King”, an Italian fairy-tale published by Giovanni Francesco Straparola in The Facetious
Nights of Straparola around 1550. Variants of the tale are known across Europe. In France, for example, Zémire and Azor is an operatic version of the story, written by Jean-François Marmontel and composed by André Grétry in 1771, which had enormous success into the 19th century. Zémire and Azor is based on the second version of the tale. Amour pour amour (Love for Love) by Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée is a 1742 play based on de Villeneuve’s version. According to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon the story originated about 4,000 years ago!
The LP Creatives production, at Ropetackle Arts, in Shoreham is set in the French village of ‘Marsh de Mello’, where a young Beauty (Ariane Murchie) dreams of finding love – and where a young Prince/Beast (Cameron Veillard) seeks redemption. Standing in the way of true love though is the villainous and suitably inscrutable Baron Biscuit (James Austin-Harvey – also the director) – with more grease than an old baking tray. Can he win the crown, the Kingdom, and the attention of every girl in town?!
We’re introduced to the show by The Fairy (Sarah Booker) who couldn’t have been more delightful, and she can certainly belt out a song to boot.
Idle Jacque (Tom Isted) – perfectly cheeky and a great foil with whomever he’s on stage – continues the back story. His scenes with Dame Do’Nut (Alec Forman – a perfect naughty, spirited performance) – whose costumes were the best of the show – were priceless and the relationship between he and Beauty is charming.
When The Beast appeared, he was cloaked in black and my middle granddaughter was a little scared but when he emerged she just thought he was “grumpy”! A credit to Veillard that he placed his performance at just the right level.
The pantomime has a punchy perfect script (written by Producer/Director Tom Beard) with plenty of food puns and panto jollity.
There’s lots of opportunity for audience interaction with all the elements you expect from a traditional pantomime – plus thigh slapping and romantic songs, both original from Ritchie Chappell (producer/ musical director) and covers, some modern twists and downright daftness thrown in too!
The dance troupe, which I understand came from a variety of local dance schools, were outstanding – dancing and tumbling to a high standard. They were certainly a credit to their talented choreographer (Katie Mayfield). I know that this is a ‘team effort’ but one dancer stood out – Lacie-Mae Kennedy – who joyfully sung and danced her heart out punching every move like a pro.
The Prince and Beauty are happily betrothed, and the audience left with smiles fixed to their faces and even our 10-month-old was clapping along and laughing at the end. It was a perfect end to the show.
A final “hurrah” should go to the crew and the Ropetackle team with whom none of this could have come together.
There are four more performances, ending on Sunday 5th, and some tickets still available so pop down to Ropetackle Arts and indulge your panto souls whilst you can.
Tickets
Family of Four £74.00 (+ £4.00 fees)
Two adults and two children, or one adult and three children.
Adult £19.50 (+ £1.00 fees)
Child £18.50 (+ £1.00 fees)
Box Office: 01273 464440
Website: www. ropetacklecentre.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ShorehamPanto
