Review: Coquetdale Amateur Dramatic Society presents Snow White at the Jubilee Hall in Rothbury

Staged by Coquetdale Amateur Dramatic Society, it was held at the Jubilee Hall which was packed with people of all ages, thrilled to be able to gather again to enjoy this treasured annual extravaganza.

It was written and directed by John Mawer, and music was by Stella Deckers Coulter.

The story starts with the wedding of the Good Queen and the King. They happily create a baby by stirring into a cauldron the necessary ingredients. Snow White is delivered, via stork, and all is well… until ‘Nurse ill’ arrives.

"That’s an unfortunate name for a nurse?” suggests the hapless King. Nurse ill reveals her full name: Eve ill. She is, of course, to become the malignant stepmother of poor Snow White.

The bad Queen is welcomed by the loathsome Privy Councillor and the Bishop. Their support of the Queen inspires the audience to boo and hiss throughout the show.

Kirsty Mawer as Eve ill is the lynchpin of the whole hilarious story. Her glorious, larger-than-life presence drives the action and creates the opportunity for many visual jokes and word-play puns. Her engaging entourage of mermaids cleverly adds colour and spectacle. Her mirror image (Sue Wood) helps the jokes along the way.

Also keeping the storyline moving in a most entertaining way are the orange-bewigged backing singers who appear frequently on stage, singing rewritten lines to popular songs.

My favourite was when Prince Vlad Charming, (the remarkable Misha Volkov) exited the stage to their rendition of Bat out of Hell.

Both actors playing Snow White were superb. As she grows up, our heroine finds her spirit and sense of justice and brings fairness back to the kingdom.

Amelie Middleton as Scarlet SquirrElle was droll with her teenage ‘hashtag’ talk and bored attitude. All the children performed with confidence and great timing.

The first act ends hilariously, with a Snow-White puppet dancing to a madrigal, while the puppeteer is pelted with water, ice, and branches, ending with the obligatory ‘pie in the face’.

A shorter second act follows. The moles and miners are superbly funny, and the Woodcutter (Xanthe Mawer) gives an expertly understated performance. Everyone loved the audience participation section, a real crowd-pleaser, especially for the children.

And so ends 2023’s outstanding show. Everyone cheered and clapped and all agreed – CAD’s Snow White is a great show for all the family.

A shout-out must go to Paul Allen who played many roles, and Stella Deckers Coulter was spot-on as the musician.

The most praise, though, must go to John Mawer, an extraordinarily talented writer, director, and actor.

His talents have clearly filtered down to his family, as they all took part in the panto and they were all fantastic! A huge thank you to all involved.

It is clear that a great deal of work had to happen from a great many huge-hearted Coquetdale residents. Superb.