The Community Centre rang to the sound of hysterical laugher, hissing and applause last weekend as Acting Up in Rye staged their annual pantomime, “Dick Whittington”.
I went to the third and final performance on Saturday night when the room was almost full, with anticipatory giggles hinting that some of the audience were perhaps making a repeat visit.
Fiona Osbourne played Dick and her legs and voice combined make it likely that she will be playing principal boys well into her 90s.
Cassiopia Hirst was a fresh and popular choice for Alice Fitzwarren, the daughter of the merchant who ends up running away to sea with Dick and eventually marrying him.
The Dame (the cook, Sarah) was a revelation. Played with gusto and brio by David Bentley, she had more than a passing resemblance to Freddie Mercury, which was initially rather disturbing. Marking a dramatic break with tradition and rejecting the example of his illustrious predecessors as Rye Dames, Bentley appeared to have learned all his lines.
All of the cast appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely, playing up to the willing crowd. With plenty of ad libs, some retakes and immense good humour, this was a confident and competent ensemble.
Many of the supporting roles developed their own momentum as the evening progressed. For example by the end of the evening, the Belles of Shoreditch, played by Sandi Bainn, Sally Pattinson and Ali Catt were being cheered as soon as they appeared on stage.
The group of rats, led by Queen Rattus (Daphne Blattman) was similarly booed exuberantly every time they made an appearance.
Natalia Ramus, the 11-year-old girl who played the cat, Thomas, was incredible. She did not have many lines, but she certainly made her presence felt whenever she was on stage. You felt, that just like a cat, she knew she was the most important person in the room and it was difficult to take your eyes off her, even when the action was elsewhere.
She did not upstage the others, but she complemented them and underlined the point that the real hero of this story is not Dick Whittington at all but, rather, the terribly talented, Thomas the cat.
Photos: Kenneth Bird