"Snow White"

December 16, 2017 — The pantomime performance, or "panto" originated in England. Usually performed around Christmas, it was not silent as pantomime currently implies, but was a mix of song, dance and slapstick comedy. That's exactly what we got in the Winnipesaukee Playhouse's production of "Snow White" in Meredith, New Hampshire. Small children were delighted, teens rocked to the current music, and adults picked up on the "in" jokes and double entendres.

This production was written and directed for the "Winni" by Neil Pankhurst. Judy Hayward was musical director and Bryan Knowlton directed choreography. Lori McGinley's costumes were appropriately flashy and colorful. Andrew Stuart's sets backed up the action.

In panto style, there was some gender-switching, with male actors in female roles and vice versa. Most notable was Charles Baran in flamboyant drag as Sarah the Cook. The rather stunning Lindsey Bristol barely hid her femininity in the male role of Prince Rupert the Fair. In roles matching their gender were Kelley Davies as a charming Snow White, Ken Chapman as King Stanley and Jim Rogato in video as the Magic Mirror. Ursula Minich Boutwell was a nicely terrifying Queen Belladonna. Chris Hendricks was over-the-top as Lester the Jester. Another gender-switch was Lynn T. Dadian as Hunter the Huntsman. Barbara Webb's prologue kept the action moving along smoothly. A talented group of teens and a few pre-teens were delightful in spirited song and dance numbers.

The production definitely warmed us up during an unusually cold, icy first half of December. The show was lively, with bright costumes, great music and dancing, and relentlessly awful puns and jokes that had us laughing in spite of ourselves. It was well worth the trip to Meredith, even though I had to drive partway home in falling snow over increasingly slippery highways.