THIS year’s successful village pantomime by the Dilton Players was Treasure Island, which was performed at the end of January.
Bob Lee has written the following review:-
“Treasure Island, the Dilton Pantomime, was written by the talented Jules Porter and Mike Worsley; they also had demanding roles, Jules as the saucy hilarious dame Joan Hawkins played with aplomb, whilst Mike was Long John Silver, menacing, amusing and acted with great craft.
“Ellie Porter as Lorna Trelawney and Laura Brackstone as Jim Hawkins were in love and carried the show with their superb acting and singing. The songs and dances were brilliantly inspired and directed by Zoe Hyde.
“Seasoned actors Susan Verity (Squire Trelawney), Nigel Paine (Doctor Livesey), Rosie Fitzsimons (Blind Pew) and Clive Short (Billy Bones) were excellent. Ruth Seelig was a knowledgable (?) Captain Smollet without a crew until the pirates, all well-played, came on the scene; two of the pirates, the brilliant Josh Brackstone (Hans Zondeck) and Honeysuckle Mitchell (Mandy Lifeboats) were very funny in the scene below the sea.
“The new vicar of Dilton’s Holy Trinity Church, Steve Jarvis, was the Missionary ably guarded by April Twinney. Luckily the natives were vegetarians and only placed the missionary in the pot briefly to add flavour. Max Laycock was the Native Chief, short on words forcefully delivered but long on meaning.
“Lisa Laycock acted well with humour as the heavily bearded castaway Ben Gunn who was desperate for cheese and had already stolen the treasure – much to the annoyance of the pirates The Seagulls were amusingly played by Macy Wrintmore and Kathryn McGee; Macy also played the Ship’s Cat.
“Alan Verity used all his skill and experience to direct the show with brilliance. The costumes by Roni Wakeling and Alison Hyde were fantastic, adding so much colour and style. The scenery was first class thanks to the talents of Trina Murphy and Clive Short. Live music makes the show and was ably supplied by James Finbow (keyboard) and Jerry Porter (drums).
“Lighting, sound, stage crew, dressers, make-up, front of house, all did sterling background work as did the tea ladies; donations for teas and programmes yielded £190 towards the Holy Trinity loo fund. Our thanks to Crowning Glory and Fairfield Farm College for selling so many tickets for full houses on Friday and Saturday. Thanks also to our loyal supporters who turn out in such numbers for the panto; we trust they found Treasure Island a colourful and rewarding village spectacle!”
