DICK WHITTINGTON

Production Dates

Thursday, 7, Friday 8 and Saturday 9 February 2002.

Cast

Directed by Chris Robertson

Production Crew

Summary

Dick Whittington comes to London to seek his fortune. He is being looked over by Fairy Silverchime, who sends him Tommy the cat as a loyal companion. Plotting Dick's downfall is King Rat. Dick arrives in London and gets an apprenticeship with Alderman Fitzwarren, the storekeeper; he also falls for his daughter Alice. Fitzwarren's other apprentice, Idle Jack, also loves Alice, and on King Rats advice, plans Dicks downfall by planting the store's wages in his purse, with the aid of two inept sailors, Captain Cuttle and mate Scuttle. Dick is discovered by Fitzwarren with the money and banished; he leaves London with Tommy in disgrace, but at Highgate Hill decides to return and try again. He becomes a sailor aboard Cuttle and Scuttles ship, which is sailing under Fitzwarren's patronage, and with Idle Jack and Sarah the cook, they all set sail for distant lands. King Rat conjures up a storm, and the boat is wrecked on the shores of Occorom (a backwards Morocco) where the crew are captured and brought before the Emperor.

A Message from the Director

"Hi! Welcome to The Magdalene Players twenty third pantomime, Dick Whittington. I am sure that you are going to enjoy yourselves and want to come and see other Mag Players productions.

I hail from Wagga Wagga, a country town in New South Wales, Australia and have lived in England since 1994. I became involved in the Magdalene Players in June 1999, after a "break" from Theatre and Performance of over 15 years. Since joining, I have been in 3 productions; "Comics, Crotchets and Chorus Girls", last year's pantomime "Robin Hood" as Friar Tuck, and took the role of Victor Frankenstein in last May's "Frankenstein". I have enjoyed each production, and when I was asked to direct this year's pantomime I decided to have a change, get off stage and give my all to "Dick Whittington". I think I was an interesting choice for director, as prior to taking the job on, I had never seen a Pantomime! I am immensely proud of the work that has gone into putting on this panto, which I know will provide plenty of laughs, music, action and a little m agic. Enjoy!!"

Chris Robertson

Information about the Folklore of Dick Whittington

Richard Whittington is perhaps unique amongst pantomime heroes. He really did exist. Born around 1350 the third son of Sir William Whittington of Poundly Court, Gloucestershire, he was to become the only Lord Mayor of London to be elected to that office three times.

Dick's father died an outlaw in 1360 but the Whittington family were allowed to keep the estate and in fact did so for the next two hundred years. A stained glass window in Poundly church shows the arms of Richard Whittington divided with those of the Fitzwarren family. Thus we know that Dick did marry Alice, the daughter of Sir Ivo Fitzwarren to whom he was apprenticed in 1371. Sir Ivo was a member of the guild of Mercers who dealt in cloth, especially silks and other expensive materials. He was a merchant adventurer which meant that he was one of a small group of merchants who traded overseas. By 1387, he was a member of the Court of Common Council, the body which, to this day, governs the City of London and in 1393 he became Alderman for the Broad Street Ward and was elected Sheriff.

Dick was not slow to put his wealth to good use. He was appointed Lord Mayor in 1397 by Richard II, in all probability as a reward for the loan of 10,000 marks which the King raised from the City. The appointment was in breach of the city's liberties: mayors had to be elected, but two days after his appointment, the King granted the City a charter restoring its liberties for all time. The loan was never repaid so it is likely that the charter was a gift, in part, for the monies loaned.

Whittington was no mere royal puppet. He was obviously popular, being re-elected as Lord Mayor in 1389, 1406 and 1419 and elected Master of the Mercers Company, the richest and most powerful it the City, three times.

One of the great benefactors of his time, Dick endowed many City institutions including St Batholomew's Hospital, alms houses and a library at Greyfriar's Church for which he gave the princely sum of £400. He rebuilt Newgate Prison in order to alleviate the appalling conditions at Ludgate Prison. A continuing source of revenue for the Crown, the records show that there were only two years between 1400 and his death in 1423, when he did not lend money to the King. In an era of great a often dangerous political change, Dick was a survivor. When Richard II was deposed by his cousin, Henry IV, Dick continued to find favour and in 1419 welcomed Henry V to the city following his victory at Agincourt. His support of the King was good for business and as a main supplier to 'the Grand Wardrobe', he provided velvets, cloth of gold, taffetas and damasks to the value of £3500 between 1392 and 1394. In 1416 he was elected member of parliament. But for all his public recognition, he died, sadly, a childless widower on 1423 and was buried in St Michael's Churchyard which was later destroyed in the great fire of 1666.

The earliest record of the tale of Dick Whittington and his cat is in 1605, while Samuel Pepys, writing in his diary for 1668, recorded that he went "to Southwark fair, which was very dirty, and there saw a puppet show of Whittington which was pretty to see". It was at Covent Garden in 1816 that the famous clown , Grimaldi, appeared in 'Harlequin Whittington and the Lord Mayor of London'. The start of the pantomime tradition which continues to this day.

Review

I remember so well the adrenalin high one experiences standing in the wings seconds before one steps on stage, and I suppose I was reliving the moment on behalf of the cast …as I felt a real tingle of excitement shiver down my spine. The lights dimmed, the curtains opened and the music, so ably led by Jane Woolley, provided the cue for the start of the Mag Players version of Dick Whittington; I was not disappointed.

The Chorus were particularly good this year. They sang with enthusiasm and clarity and really looked as though they were enjoying themselves as plenty of smiling faces shone through, particularly in the second half. However, for me, the shining lights are always Margot Johnston and Kate Cooper, both of whom always put their heart and soul into each and every performance. They both have good singing voices and I was glad they had the opportunity to sing short solos. In fact all the Chorus soloists and duettists did extremely well, particularly the boys.

Talking of boys, I thought Kester Linley’s portrayal of the ever faithful Tommy was enchanting. Considering his words were limited to the odd miaow now and again, he brought a real charm to his performance and I was always pleased when he appeared on stage.

Rosie Thomson made the most of her ‘Customer in Shop’ role. She timed her dialogue well and I loved the way she directed the punchline straight at the audience; a clever trick if it’s done well, and Rosie did – she carried it off with great style.

On the whole I enjoyed the evening enormously, however there was a certain lack of jokes this year and despite Idle Jack requesting we shout ‘Wake Up Jack’ every time he fell asleep, he only did so once, at the beginning, so I think perhaps a little more audience participation could have been built in.

I was pleased to see David Ashton discarding his dresses and outrageous hairdos and donning a tail and ears instead to become a convincing dirty King Rat. His counterpart, new face Wendy Gilyott Brown who played a very good and sparkly fairy was good, and I particularly liked some of her ‘wicked’ facial expressions.

Another new face that caught my eye was Nigel Gray who played the Emperor of Morocco with a wonderful pseudo tongue in cheek poshness which had me smiling the moment he opened his mouth. I hope he stays with the group as I believe he has a lot of potential. Trevor Pyne and Richard Davidson, alias Captain Cuttle and his able mate Mr. Scuttle played their roles as the essential Panto Buffoons very well, timing the laughs to perfection.

The two Lucys, Godwin and Gray played Dick and Alice respectively and both came over very well in the lead roles and their chosen songs were sung beautifully. Although I would have liked to see Lucy Godwin move around the stage much more during her charming rendition of ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ – I know she was directing the song at Tommy, but a wander round the stage earlier on, so that we could see her face, would have looked better. A little thing I know, but for me watching I was dying for her to get up!

No review would be complete without a special mention of those back stage. I was very impressed with the excellent make up, especially for Kester and David, a cat and rat. I personally think Alison Squires has missed her vocation in life and should be congratulated on yet another job very well done. I also loved the set designs for the Moroccan Palace and Fitzwarren’s store, the props here were also very good, particularly the sausages!!!

Considering Chris Robertson, a native Aussie, didn’t even know what a Pantomime was before he started, I believe he made an exceptionally good effort on this, his debut directional role, and I think he should be justifiably very proud of what he has achieved.

KATE HILLS