Stage show: members of the cast of the Sanderstead panto, Dick Whittington, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday this week. Pics: Tony Drayson
With our regular reviewer, Bella Bartock… ‘indisposed’ (too much Harvey’s Bristol Cream over Christmas, we’re told), KEN TOWL got all dolled up as a panto dame – oh yes he did! – and tottered along in his high heels to Sanderstead for the 84th panto by Croydon’s oldest AmDram group
Principal boy: Dick (Connie Goswell) and his cat (Amélie Chandler) performed in the best pantomime traditions. Pic: Tony Drayson
High-kicking dance routines, a bit of tap, the plinkety-plonk of the piano, the rat-a-tat-tat of the drum, a fairy, a camel, a cat and rats – a lot of rats – chorus girls dressed as sailors, a principal boy played by a woman in tights and a dame played by a man in outlandish dresses, the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd…
It must be panto time!
Oh yes it is!
And, in this case, it was the Sanderstead Dramatic Club’s latest production of Dick Whittington. The latest, in fact, in a long line of Dick Whittingtons (1936, 1950, 1973, 1983, 1990, 1999 and 2008) and the latest in a long line of traditional, community pantomimes going back to 1932 when they began with Aladdin and continued thereafter uninterrupted except for a six-year break due to the Nazis and a one-year break because of covid.
The Sanderstead Dramatic Club is, by most reckonings, the oldest amateur dramatic group based in Croydon, tracing its origins to 1907. In those days, Sanderstead consisted of just 342 houses, eight farms and 1,660 residents. They’d only got connected to mains gas and electricity the year before the Dramatic Club turned on their spotlights for the first time.
As venerable institution as the SDC is, it is part of a much longer tradition.
The very first recorded production in this country of Aladdin was 1788, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, while Dick Whittington followed in 1814 in a show which starred the great comedy actor Joseph Grimaldi as Dame Cicely Suet, the cook.
Booked up: SDC’s first panto was in 1932
Ah, there ain’t nothing like a dame, the lynchpin of any pantomime.
In 2024, SDC’s dame is deftly projected by Gordon Drayson in his debut as Sally. Sally commanded every scene that she appeared in, aided by dresses (think Carmen Miranda on acid) and wigs, starting with shocking pink.
Less shocking but as much fun were Sally’s jokes.
The SDC way is high on one-liners, low on smut and, as dames always do, Sally had the best, comedically self-deprecating lines…
“I went out with a tennis player, but love meant nothing to him.
“Then I fell for a gondolier in Venice but he wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole.”
Dave Sawyer and John Shepherd as comedy duo Cockle and Mussel (see what they did there?) also drove much of the humour, and their attempt at the Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first?” sketch was a delight.
Of course, as you’d expect from every good pantomime, there was topical gag or two on offer as well.
Historic stage: Sanderstead Dramatic Club’s 1934 performance of Jack and the Beanstalk
“I’ve got no skills, no education, no qualifications and no experience,” said one character. “Well,” came the rejoinder, “you could become an MP.”
I looked round the audience. I could not see Chris Philp in the audience. Apparently, he does not take even the softest of ribbing well.
All shook up: King Rat (centre) was played by John Desbottes as a kind of subtly menacing Elvis. Pic: Tony Drayson
And speaking of politicians, did I mention the rats?
The rats were great, all of them, and deftly led by King Rat John Desbottes, a subtly menacing amalgum of rat and Elvis Presley.
Eileen Slingsby’s mini-rat was useful sidekick, skillfully adding both menace and humour to the Team Rat.
She was mirrored by Amélie Chandler as Tommy the Cat who showed that acting is as much attitude as delivery of lines.
All in all, it was a fun evening.
God Save the King: Sanderstead DC’s first pantomime programme, from 1932
The cast – and there were a lot of them – were clearly enjoying themselves, and that is always infectious. The sets were colourful and bright, the lighting was used to good effect, and the dance routines entertaining. Where else would you see a jellyfish dancing alongside a cat? (It made sense in the context of the “plot”, honest!)
Go and see it.
Pantomime has always been the best cure for the post-Christmas blues, and this one is no exception.
- Dick Whittington by the Sanderstead Dramatic Club continues its run at All Saints Parish Hall, Sanderstead from tomorrow, Tuesday, January 9 to Saturday, January 13, at 7.30pm each weekday and with performances at 2pm and 6pm on the Saturday. Tickets are £7 to £11.
- To book online, visit the box office here
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
