Not one but four Pantomimes in September? Really? It may be a bit premature for some but certainly not for the full-house the Gaiety Theatre had last Saturday night. The Battle of the Pantos idea came from Producer Alison Lodge of Stage Struck Productions. She and compere for the evening Gary Chatel searched the length and breadth of the island in search of the best of the best.

Four community panto groups were set to compete against eachother to see who truly was the fairest panto in our Isle! They had 20 minutes to perform the best scenes from their recent shows to prove themselves.

Peel Pantaloons were up first, which is never an easy thing to do, but they set the tone for the evening. Theirs was a traditional version of Aladdin. The opening scene showed Aladdin tied to a chair by the evil Abanazar as he tried to take Princess Jasmine as his wife. It had funny elements the most memorable of which was the ‘put a ring on it’ dance section.

Next was Arbory Players with an original panto written by Di Brown ‘The Chicken Prince’. What a brave thing to do for a small company, to write their own panto but it was really good. It took the audience back to a time where pantos were all about audience participation and less on the singing and dancing. Brothers Numbskull and Blockhead made this performance. Of all the pantos this was the one my son enjoyed participating in the most.

Marown Youth and Community Players took scenes from their last Cinderella play which I’d reviewed previously. They opened with a  baking scene in the kitchen which was expertly choreographed to the tune of ‘A little bit of Monica’. However I’m glad they also chose the spooky bedroom scene which showed excellent comic timing by the ugly sisters.

After a long wait Port St Mary were on last with Aladdin. Abanazar and Widow Twanky were the funniest.  Abanazar was particularly good. The old bazaar scene was the best, colourful and noisy as it should be, it kept our interest. I loved the carpet costume the most.
The five judges were, Geoff Corkish Chairman Isle of Man Arts Council, David Artus an actor, producer and director, Paul Moulton broadcaster and ex-panto goody, Pippa Salter principal of The Dance Academy and Wil Kelly main sponsor. They sat either side of the stage in the boxes interacting with the host and performers, and there were songs from Vic Wild and Georgia Maddocks, all of which really gave the evening a ‘Saturday night at the Palladium’ kind of feel.

The judges announced the categories that they considered when choosing the winner;

Best Costume – Carpet (Port St. Mary)
Best use of props – JLS bucket scene (Peel)
Best slapstick moment – Body slam (Peel)
Best drama perspective – Arbory players
Best Dames – Marown
Best or Worst baddy – Abanazar (Port St. Mary)
Best musical moment – Marown
Best original script – Arbory

The overall winner was Marown Youth and Community Players.

Now this show is set to return annually make sure that next year you get your tickets early because if it has proved one thing then Community Theatre is alive and well in the Isle of Man!