Cumbria Dance Drama Group Production of Winnie the Pooh
The stage at the Green Room, West Walls was transformed into the hundred acre wood for two nights last week.
The open set had the audience wondering what Cumbria Dance has in store for them this year. The lights dimmed and the cast took their places.
The familiar music of Winnie the Pooh filled the theatre as the lights went up and all the characters were introduced as they left the stage.
Winnie the Pooh, played by Harry Wharam took centre stage as the audience were expertly led through the story by the three nannies (Joni McMullen, Ruari Brown and Kerri Canham).
The much loved adventures of Winnie the Pooh were played out to very appreciative audiences who interacted with the actors at all given opportunities.
The over exuberance of the Tigger character was enthusiastically played out by Richard Gibbon and was a great hit with young and old members of the audience.
The expertly choreographed dancing to the Tigger theme and the heffalumps and woozels were superb and only served to enhance the children’s acting performances.
The young girls playing the bees not only looked the part but very efficiently dealt with the troublesome antics of Pooh bear.
The girls to whom the story was being told gave no indication that the story was anything other than new to them and when the story called for it, they helped to lead the story on.
The white rabbits exasperation at Tigger’s antics were effortlessly shown by Izzy Clark as were the stumbling’s and nervousness of Piglet (Joseph Jackson).
All members of the Junior and Senior Drama Group should be extremely proud of their performances on both nights and deservedly so. It was obvious that they had spent a great deal of time practising and were word perfect on both performances.
Once again Debbie Marper, director, choreographer and principal of Cumbria Dance has managed to show that this area has a wealth of talented young people who can achieve wonderful things when given the right opportunities.
For those who missed seeing these talented young people performing, you missed out on two great nights of fantastic entertainment.
