On Thursday 16th January we were kindly invited along to the opening night of Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society - (HD&OS) Pantomime Dick Whittington at BEAM Hertford.

Having never seen a HD&OS show we had no idea what to expect but when we saw it was billed as "Hertfords local traditional pantomime for all the family" we knew we simply couldn't miss it.

In case you are unfamiliar with them Hertford Dramatic and Operatic Society have been staging plays, musicals and pantomimes for over 100 years in Hertford and have their own headquarters and Studio Theatre in Pegs Lane.

As Mum's Guide to Hertford I have seen a fair few pantomimes in my career all with their own strengths and appeals but right from the start this pantomime won my heart. There's something so special about a company so rich in history and it warmed my heart to see, when reading the programme, that there were different generations of the same family starring in the production. My eldest also spotted that his music teacher Mr Dear was playing Trombones and Euphonium and that a girl from his school Isla was starring as one of King Rats Rat pack which added to the excitement (both were excellent as a side note!).

Dick Whittington has all the elements you expect from a traditional Panto including the hero of the title, Dick Whittington, and his feline friend called Tom the Cat.....or is he? A fabulous Dame, Sarah the Cook, and her son Jack. With audience participation galore- side note on this, the theatre was not even half full but let me tell you as some one who reviewed 5 pantomimes over Christmas last year alone, this audience were fantastic, probably the best audience participation I've even encountered so although I am not here to review the audience you'd get a 10/10 if I was!

So lets get into it... our review... so I can "Say what I want to say and let the words fall out honestly..." sorry got a bit carried away there, ooh yes I did! 

Written by Ian Greenwood and directed by Julie Markey this show was a special one! We loved the local knowledge that went into the script and genuinely belly laughed at so many of the jokes of a local nature. 

Dick Whittington is played by the fabulously talented Carly Cousins who has a lovely singing voice and had us all rooting for her character.

Tom (Nigel) the cat- Wow! Saphie Meischke - remember that name! Because this young person is going to be a star!!! Hugely talented, funny, understated and not even phased when their microphone fell off during the performance, an absolutely stunning performance- stand out of the whole show in my opinion.

Alice was played by Alex Parkes (who actually was the person who invited us along) and gave a very warm and genuine performance and wow what a voice, loved her rendition of "ROAR".

David Cousins gave a convincing performance as Alices Dad Alderman Fitzwarren.

And of course no Panto is complete without a Dame and Darrell Williams absolutely smashed it as Sarah the cook- hilarious a good a dame as ever I have seen and what a set of pipes!!!

Bradley Boxall (watch ya back Jack) had us in absolute stitches the whole show, my husband said his character reminded him of Mr Poppy from Nativity and it's so true. Brilliant performance that tied together many important aspects of the show, a huge well done.

Lorraine Bottomley totally enchanted us as Fairy Bowbells, beautiful singing voice and such a sparkly costume!

Every panto needs a baddie and Jim Markey did a fine job as King Rat, the villain we all love to hate "hes bad" indeed he is! Excellent performance with a good dose of humour, we loved the rat pack ongoing joke!

This and that Clive and Darren were the standout comedy performance of the night, we loved it good old fashioned humour- just brilliant!

Captain Rattlebones - Barny Shergold also put in a performance to treasure (see what i did there!?).

The main characters were supported by a hugely talented cast of Dancers and Ensemble actors from all different ages which we loved! All fantastic !

Dick Whittington by Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society will chase away those January blues and warm the heart of even those sewer dwellers amongst you, set sail on an adventure starring Hertford's finest in this heartwarming adaptation of an old classic. Get your tickets now... you'll regret it if you don't (Ooh yes you will!) .

Book your tickets here!

Thanks for having us

Kayleigh & The Boys

XxxX