How did Wincanton's pantomime 'Ever After' end? Happily!

By Sam Allen

One of the joys of visiting Wincanton is that it is a wonderful example of the very best aspects of community theatre. The full inclusivity, community spirit and wonderful sense of camaraderie is always on display. It is a great asset for the people of Wincanton and a focus for anyone with a hankering to tread the boards – or help in one of the myriad ways people are needed behind the scenes. That sense of community spirit spread into Wincanton’s Memorial Hall as family, friends and neighbours thronged into the auditorium on the opening night, eagerly looking forward to this year’s offering.

As always in local am dram groups, there are stalwarts who hold it all together and one such at Wincanton is Charlie Bentley, who has done almost everything both on and off the stage in her twenty-four years with WADS and who this year both wrote and directed this original pantomime Ever After. A fairytale set in a land of real fairies, this was a unique romp that incorporated most of the usual pantomime traditions. So we had the battle between light and dark, a touch of sweet romance, a flamboyant dame, a ‘behind you’ sequence, a little magic, a wonderful fight and (spoiler alert) the eventual triumph of the good over evil! And, of course, there were plenty of laughs along the way along with a range of songs and dances to keep the local audience enthralled.

A lot of the laughter came in response to the running theme of the comedy duo ‘inventing’ Marvel heroes – complete with explanatory think bubbles! Panto is a very versatile, quirky and forgiving medium as those gags, and the bearded dame, perfectly demonstrate! Not to mention the dame getting stuck in the washing machine, the red-eyed wolf or the talking cat! Don’t you just love pantomime?

The audience most certainly were enjoying it on the night we we there, joining in with gusto on the community song and concluding the evening with some rapturous applause. All of which bodes well for the WADS family fun and frolics continuing for some time to come. See you next year!

PS: For family reasons I am sailing across the ocean blue next week and I am very pleased to tell you that for the next two pantos our usual moderator Nigel Ford will be in the moderator's chair in my absence. I'll be back in time for the final flourish of the year at Tintinhull in the middle of March.

Sam