(Clinton
Small, Anthony Stonier, Katy Moore, Mpilo
Nzimande;
Rowin Munsamy & Thomie Holtzhausen. Pic by Val Adamson)
Clinton Small takes his talents to a whole
new level in latest adult pantomime! (Review by Caroline Smart)
If the adult pantomime has opened in Durban,
then the festive season is not far off!
This year’s adult panto is Sinder-Fella, produced as always by Sue Clarence
Promotions and once
again written and directed by Darren King. This is a well-tried formula that
has stood the test of time – full of fun and nonsense and, wherever possible, the
most casual of phrases gets turned around to become outrageously risqué!
This is the story of Cinderella with the
genders changed – the hapless pretty girl with two ugly sisters is now a
good-looking young man with two ugly sisters! The fairy godmother is a fairy
godfather and the loyal Buttons comes straight from Chatsworth!
What would an adult panto be without Anthony
Stonier? Certainly never the same! This time, he’s one of the not-so ugly
sisters and there are some delightful scenes with Clinton Small who plays the
other not-so ugly sister. This makes for a very strong duo and Clinton Small
takes his talents to a whole new level in this role. I was also delighted to hear
his singing voice properly for the first time – where’s he been hiding this
talent?
The other long-term adult panto performer is
Thomie Holtzhausen, putting in a fine performance in a number of roles, the
most amusing of which was the busty young maiden in The
Click Song. His partner in this hilarious scene is Rowin Munsamy, who also plays
Buttons and is making his adult panto debut in Sinder-Fella.
As Princess Pandora Hugetit (the Prince Charming role), Katy Moore once again creates a delightful ditzy
character who spends her time fending off Buttons’ amorous advances.
Another newcomer to the adult panto cast is Mpilo Nzimande as
Sinder-Fella who is frantically trying to save his family farm from the
machinations of his two sisters who are only interested in gaining husbands and
moving from the township to Umhlanga. This tall, slight young actor from
Pietermaritzburg is to be commended for holding his own in this adult panto
format where anything can – and usually does - happen!
There are many delightful scenes and highlights for me included the
rickshaw scene, the aforesaid The Click
Song and Anthony Stonier’s What Kind
of Fool am I? sung with much power and the odd hilarious glitch!
On the downside, the sound is at an
uncomfortably high level in the opening of each act. Another major frustration was
the poor bar service which was incapable of meeting the demands of audience
members but, hopefully, this will be attended to before long.
Sinder-Fella runs until December
30 at the Zone at Suncoast. Take your own picnic supper or make use of the
various Suncoast outlets. All enquiries / booking through Ailsa on ailswn@mweb.co.za or 083 250 2690. Booking
is open and tickets can be purchased through Computicket; or book online at www.computicket.com – Caroline Smart
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