Hereford Courtyard's Beauty and the Beast is an outstanding pantomime (From Hereford Times)

Hereford Courtyard's Beauty and the Beast is an outstanding pantomime

7:00am Wednesday 23rd December 2009

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OF all the impressive things about this year’s Courtyard panto, perhaps the most impressive is how cleverly writer Lyndsay Maples has introduced a dame to a show that doesn’t usually include the broad humour associated with the role.

Lyndsay’s script and Estelle van Warmelo’s direction have combined to create an outstanding pantomime that loses none of the essential sweetness of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast yet contains everything anyone could want in a panto.

The Beast, played by Andrew Lindfield looks beastly and menacing on his bouncy stilts, and Arabella Rodrigo is an engaging Belle.

Dancers Jessica Hathaway and Heather Scott-Martin as Belle’s sisters Chou-Fleur and Mange Tout were delightfully giggly and Jonathan Ball was convincingly French as her father.

Lyndsay Maples returns to the dark side after playing a good fairy in last year’s Jack and the Beanstalk, attacking the role of Brimstone with obvious relish. Nick Smithers as Dame Foufou is a beautifully judged dame who has an instant connection with the audience and proves that a successful dame doesn’t have to go way way over the top to get the dynamic spot on.

His/her double act with Paul Lawrence-Thomas as Dame Foufou’s hapless son Lugg was a hilarious example of traditional panto slapstick.

Add some truly dramatic special effects, a striking set and lots of great songs, dancing from Jessica, Heather, Craig and Jonathan supplemented by eight local youngsters, and you have an absolute cracker of a panto.

■ When Nick Smithers fell ill on December 16, dancer Craig Ashley stepped in and has been doing “a fantastic job” as the dame, according to a Courtyard spokesman. At the time of going to press it was not known when Nick would return to the role.

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