How the West was Fun! Cloverleaf take a shot at the wild west

By Sam Allen

It was wonderful to enter the village hall in Combe St Nicolas and see it festooned with cowboy hats and other paraphernalia from the Wild West, and hear a collection of Western theme music as we made our way to our seats. For an old codger like me brought up on The Lone Ranger, The High Chaparral and Bonanza, it was a welcome return to the sights and sounds of my childhood. Cloverleaf Productions’ Panto at the OK Corral was a whole new take on the traditional pantomime genre which afforded a lot of scope for cowboy high jinx. From the Yeeee-hars and y’alls in the programme to the faux American accents on stage, from the Stetsons, six-shooters and chaps on the players to the swinging saloon doors and desert backdrops of the set, this pantomime afforded a veritable feast of Western memorabilia and a whole load of fun.

Of course there was a saloon – where we even had a memorable mammary shoot-out! And we had line dancin’, gold pannin’ and hard drinkin’ thrown in for good measure. Not an opportunity was missed to bring in Wild West references of one sort or another.

And, this being cowboy country, there had to be a horse of course! The wonderful whinnying Lightning was played not in the usual panto way with two people, but played by a single person and yet he still had four legs! A great ploy for getting a fully-fledged nag on to a tiny stage.

Most of the usual panto shenanigans and traditions were on show but, this being a plot firmly centred in the real west, there was no supernatural element. The villain of the piece was the corrupt sheriff aided and abetted by the wonderfully named Butch Casserole and the Sun-Tanned Kid!

But we had cross-dressing, slapstick, community singing and lots of audience interaction as well as plenty of corny gags and a smattering of songs and dances. This was pantomime in all its glory.

The hall in Combe St Nicolas may be tiny, but the heart of the people in Cloverleaf Productions is enormous and this was a truly warm-hearted piece of community theatre that involved so many people from the village both on the stage, behind the scenes and in the audience. It is great for the village to have such a vibrant organisation providing so much fun for so many people.