Review of Buttons by the Bisley Amateur Theatrical Society

Review by Maeve Willis.

Hollywood stars, royalty, politicians and boy banders all had a part to play in Bisley’s latest panto with Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Del Boy, Barack Obama, Prince Harry and Tweedy the clown all represented as individuals who had been cast aside by two ugly sisters as they sought to wed any rich, but short-sighted, suitor.

“Buttons”, written and directed by Susan Vesey and produced by Peter Thorp, was a witty look at the weeks leading up to Cinderella and Prince Charming’s wedding, when disasters loomed round every corner and magic was in short supply to put things right.

Buttons was doing the wedding catering and had, as a lodger, the rat that was turned into a coachman but somehow missed being turned back at midnight. Charlie Trinder, who played Arthur the Rat, showed considerable ability, effortlessly changing from a broad Gloucestershire accent to sonorous tones for a sublime pastiche of a Shakespearean soliloquy.

There was something of a rodent theme running through the pantomime with a score of well-drilled village children playing white mice who entertained throughout with song and dance. Four house mice, Emily Bradley, Verity Trinder, William Roberts and Daisy Roberts also gave delightful performances alongside Issy Polkinghorne and Jess Laverack, who were scary skeletons and cheeky buskers.

Four more youngsters, Sophie Wilcox, Naomi Mohamed, Jago Painter and Annie Mudd, took on the roles of servants to the wicked stepmother Mazagran, played with style by a confident Hatty Davis. Teenager Amber Nash portrayed her long-suffering PA who longs to be a princess because she can wave beautifully.

The pinkest of Fairy Godmothers, Tracy Brown, complete with a wand that didn’t work and a ‘magic manual’ from which the spells were disappearing, went from being waspish to dejected to triumphant with ease.

Lucie Mitchell and Luke Martin were a comedy aristocratic mother and son duo, equally exasperated with each other. Ken Brown was resplendent as the Town Crier and Tom Merry was a fine-voiced singing policeman– although they only had three townsfolk (Rosie Crockford, Elaine Polkinghorne and Anna McDowell) to admire their skills. Even the backstage crew got a turn on stage as a Barber Shop quartet, explaining the difficulties of having to change the scenery so quickly on Bisley’s new open-plan stage – a novel idea that worked well.

The story took many hilarious twists and turns: the audience were kept busy making magic out of those tiny specks one sees in sunlight and invited to vote on whether Cinderella (Diana Chapman in a glorious golden twinkling ball gown) should marry Prince Charming (Claire Mobbs) or the lovelorn Buttons, admirably played by the vicar of Bisley, Rev Rosie Woodall, complete with just the right amount of thigh slapping on traditional principal boy fishnet tights.

Stand-out performances also came from Ryan Brown and Luca Chapman as the Costa sisters, Cappuccino and Ciabatta: their outrageous costumes, comic timing and supplementary visual comedic routines had the audience cheering.

There were some enjoyable solo numbers but the ensemble songs, with simple but effective choreography, were where the cast really let go and enjoyed themselves, with many in the audience singing along.

The cast of ‘Buttons’ successfully combined all the traditional elements of pantomime with a lavish helping of the unexpected and raised a considerable amount of money towards the upkeep of the community’s village hall.

Maeve Willis