Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Sleeping Beauty

Seen George Willey's review of the panto in the Advertiser!? Must have seen a different performance from the one I went to. He said it ripped along at a merry pace. Seemed to drag on forever to me. Good individual performances but what a tediously long production. I left at the interval, after ninety very slow minutes, with my kid constantly asking if it had finished yet. I gather the whole show was 3 hours long.

Posted by Anonymous to swanageview at 3:34 PM

7 comments:

The Postman said...

I agree. I had to leave too. A shame, because pantos are often kids' first experiences of theatre. Shows like this could put them off for life. I hope the production company take note. And/or do some objective research to establish whether real perceptions match the rose-tinted review.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps George didn't go, or left early, too. Or perhaps he dozed off and had a nice kip. Maybe he was juts being charitable, in which case he really shouldn't be a critic. Too bad for all concerned if the producer(s) got the timing wrong. It should have been a success for everyone.

Anonymous said...

I've reviewed many, many shows - some professional, some amateur - and you have to be honest, even with amateur productions.

After a harsh (but fair) review I often receive emails supporting my opinions.

I never, ever want to be in the same boat as George - where you're wondering if it was different show.

Yes, amateurs have given up their free time to put the show on - but they are expecting the audience to part with cash and enjoy it too.

Anonymous said...

Surely grumbling about the production afterwards is part of the reason why people go to the Mowlem. How anyone survived three hours on one of their agonizing seats amazes me.

Anonymous said...

I'm left wondering if the first two posters were at the same Panto as me because, I have to say, I thought it was good on all fronts.
Good as a production (amateur or otherwise)and well paced.
Or, maybe, I've just built up a stamina over the years which enables me to endure the rigours of the Mowlem.
Either way, when I saw it on the first Saturday evening it was excellent, the theatre was practically full and it was seemingly enjoyed by everyone there so maybe George wasn't (on this occasion) so wrong.

Anonymous said...

I just feel sorry for kids having to sit through 3 hours of that.

Anonymous said...

Do I presume the bar was closed?