Ormskirk Advertiser (18/11/1999)

I was fortunate enough to enjoy a sneak preview of the Westenders new production, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at St John's Church Hall, Burscough.

The Westenders are a regular fixture and their familiarity and ease shows in their performances - they know each other well and expect to know the audience too.

I attended the dress rehearsal and seeing a pantomime on your own in an empty hall just doesn't quite capture that panto feeling - you feel a bit daft shouting, 'Behind you' on your todd.

The script was written by the group and, for the majority of the play, ran in rhyming couplets with plenty of in-jokes, the majority of which went over my head but which no doubt had the good people of Burscough rolling in the aisles.

Liz Tonge, after playing the likes of Aladdin and Cinderella in previous productions, obviously thoroughly relished this opportunity to be bad and mean. Playing the wicked Queen, she stomped about the stage with gusto and venom.

The Huntsman, John Marriott, guided the audience through the action, and looked great in a pair of tights, while Snow White was suitably demure.

The Seven Dwarfs entered as all good dwarfs should, on their knees, until the slightly extraneous character, the fairy, waved her expensive magic. The fairy did provide the odd good joke and was well played by Brian Ashton, it was a shame he wasn't used more.

This production was certainly not politically correct but it is panto after all.  Happy the dwarf was camper than Larry Grayson, quite an achievement, and I  would love to see a production of Snow White where she takes those dwarfs in hand and makes them clean their own cottage!

A Special mention should go to the Rev. Neil Short, playing the miners Chaplin.  He had a dramatic entrance and sang 'Oan Ilkley Moor Bar'tat' in fine Yorkshire tones - definitely my song of the evening,

The show fell into the familiar panto trap of letting some of the jokes run on far too long but I was sure that with an eager audience present, the action would be much tighter.

The backdrops were created using pastels by an inmate of Wymott Prison, at Ulnes Walton, near Croston.

The Second best entrance of the night was the Prince with a hilarious Bondesque dash into the hall in the final scene and the show closed with a hand-clapping, toe-topping finale.

Claire Stoker