Brilliant acting in panto combo

ONCE Upon a Time combined lots of pantomimes and the Wheatsheaf Players did it proud.

A brilliant baddie - Evelyn - in director Heather Evans (she can ACT!) tells us as Nitwits – sorry I missed what it stood for – Nasty somethings at a convention of nasty people to stop the wedding of Cinderella’s daughter Lottie (Christine Rye) to Snow White’s son Prince Marvellous (Jo Crawley).

The stakes are high since the prophesy that if the good unite, evil is banished forever from Pantoland.

In the meantime, Cinderella (Rebecca Keeves) and Snow White (Jane Beswarick) aren’t exactly hitting it off. In one brilliant scene, Jack, of beanstalk fame, plays a Chris Tarrant look-a-like asking Prince Marvellous in ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’-style some very discerning multiple choice questions. For example, for ten years of happy marriage, Jack asks the Prince, ‘When your wife says she wants to talk, what does she mean?’ For ‘d’, the correct answer, he chooses that he must apologise for everything he’s done wrong AGAIN!

To stop the wedding, Evelyn sends Princes Lottie to the outer reaches of Pantoland in the company of her attendants – Nick (Wayne Wolley) and Nack (Georgia Darlison) who were great throughout. Gertie (Chris Jarvis) was good as Dame – kept breaking into tuneless song. Of course Lottie makes it back and the wedding goes ahead as planned.

The Wheatsheaf versatility knows no bounds and their next production is The Killing of Sister George.

Jane Howard