AFTER a break of two years thanks to Covid-19 Welshampton's village pantomime was back on stage recently.

The performance of Bullion's Bounty was a triumphant success directed and written by Shaun Higgins.

Here, fellow thespian Alison Utting gives her review – oh yes she does!

 

I love a village panto (oh yes, I do!) and a panto after two years of Covid it is something really special.

The Welshampton Bonfire Committee has a splendid history of bringing together local people of all ages and abilities, mixing them up with oodles of creativity, and producing events that are clearly as much fun for those involved as they are for us in the audience.

‘Bullion’s Bounty’ transported us to a fictional Ellesmere of the Roaring Twenties that was part ‘Noo Yoik’ and part Dixon of Dock Green.

The plot centred on a pair of love-struck youngsters, played with aplomb by Poppy Cawkwell and Felix Williams. They were from opposite sides of the tracks – her family a bumbling bunch of petty criminals, while his aunt owned all the gold in the bank. But rich or poor, all suffered under the hand – or claw – of the dastardly Professor Ironclaw, played with relish by Kate Westgate. Assisted by her fabulously menacing pair of thugs she kept the entire town downtrodden, hauling off any rebels to toil in her hideous scrapyard.

Whitchurch Herald: The Bullion's Bounty teamThe Bullion's Bounty team

The gung-ho pair of local bobbies didn’t seem to have a hope of restoring justice, especially when Ironclaw brought in a marvellously random gang of super-villains to assist her. But with the help of a turncoat, a wonderfully disciplined team of Little Constables, and a duo of doe-eyed horses, the goodies won the day.

And the revelation of Clara de Bullion’s ‘greatest treasure’ was a deft touch by writer and director Shaun Higgins.

Special mention must go to the musicians, tech team, and to the artistic inspiration responsible for the eye-catching costumes, make-up and set design.

But in the end, a panto succeeds or fails on its ability to draw an audience in and leave them feeling warmer and happier than when they came in. ‘Bullion’s Bounty’ was pure gold.