Motherwell Theatre, in association with Starbright Entertainments, regularly produce an Easter pantomime so this year they are forced to deliver their latest one in a streamed version into our homes. This has the huge advantage of making it available to a much wider audience rather than just their local Scottish one. The result is a fresh slick eighty-minute retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It is a technically very good-looking show, well-lit and costumed with a high-quality clear video and audio track.
Written and directed by Phil Norton with additional material by local Motherwell Panto legend Ian ‘Sheepie’ Smith who also plays the White Rabbit it is a combination of straightforward storytelling of the classic story combined with some very familiar pantomime routines and a sprinkling of magic. In the absence of a live audience, they imagine the responses from the virtual audience while addressing them straight down the camera. Sheepie’s comic face and energy engage the remote audience well and you almost believe he can hear the responses!
