Dick Whittington and his Amazing Goose
Well, they’ve done it again! Proving SLSC is so much more than a club only for swimming, Sue Brearley’s Dick Whittington and his Amazing Goose delighted and entertained a hardy last night crowd, despite everything the weather could throw at them and us.
After two beautiful summer evenings, the last night proved chill and drizzly. But that hardly mattered as Brearley deftly wove in a plotline of swimmery delight with topical and social japes including a dastardly former mayor of London, Bojo – yes, we’re looking at you, Prime Minister – unerringly rendered by Vincent Burke with portly stomach and more corny and obscure Latin quotes than you could throw a laurel leaf at.
We booed and hissed and no wonder our present Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan came and reportedly was completely won over; he must have loved every merry word and the sight of Bojo being hauled off to spend the rest of his days, enchained, on the island of Sark!
But where would a panto be without its hero and heroine, panto dame, pitfalls, pranks communal songs and knees up – or, in this case, dive-ins, with our unique and lovely Dive-in Belles?
Lisa Peake made a first-rate Dick – sweet of voice and just enough to tell us Dick really wasn’t the smartest tool in the box. 16 year old Tizzy Podmore brought the house down as Alice, his best beloved, somehow managing to swim the Channel before being reunited with her Dick.
Full bloodied comic cameos too from Barbara Jennings’ helpful canoeing Goose, Jonathan Buckley’s bosomy Dame, Lucy Neal’s moustachioed nautical captain, and her sidekick Carolyn Saunders. Full marks too, to Andrew Ingamells and Dermot Jones for their stout support, and not least the dirty child rats accompanying naughty Bojo.
A grand evening enjoyed by all, rounded out with a communal chorus of our famous Tooting lido anthem, written for the last panto by our very own and much missed Chris Stanton. `I love Tooting’. Oh yes we do!
Carole Woddis
