Ugly sister David Hopkins says Tiddington Players put on a pretty good show
David Hopkins, who played one of the Ugly Sisters in the recent Tiddington Players panto, Cinderella Review, reflects on the production.
TYPICAL – the Prince proposed and ran off with Cinderella. Am I bothered? No… It won’t last. He’ll soon see that the Ugly Sisters have far more to offer than that nauseating ‘Bigfoot’.
Tiddington Players’ latest pantomime production drew to a close on Sunday, 23rd February. I feel I am something of a Players veteran these days and this year I had the dubious privilege of playing an Ugly Sister alongside Andy Chowdhury (another Tiddington Players stalwart). Since our short run drew to a highly successful close, I have been left reflecting on a number of points such as: how proud we can be of attracting bigger audiences than we have in some time, how we can be even prouder of helping to raise over £1,000 for the Shakespeare Hospice – more than we’ve ever raised before, and was my backside really as big as the Ugly Sisters led everyone to believe in their rendition of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls?
However, I have been reflecting on three key points in particular.
We are so incredibly fortunate to have the support of the Tiddington and Stratford community. The volunteers who come to chaperone under 18s, who help with sound, lighting, make-up, prompting, who do tireless work backstage, who look after front of house and the bar – they are so selfless with their time and we are incredibly lucky to have their help. Other theatre groups have also been incredibly generous – in particular the Phoenix Players who continue to lend us costumes and also heckled in force!
This has been an incredibly happy production and the main reason for this has been having a wonderful production team. Natasha Foster’s slick direction gave the cast a lot of confidence – you would never have known that this was her first go at directing. Lucy French, a Tiddington Players legend, made the transition from stage to producer seamlessly and her meticulous preparation meant there was never any panic. Louise Griffin’s sets were top notch yet again and her calm stage management ensured everyone knew when and where they needed to be with the minimum of fuss. When you have a happy, relaxed production team, you inevitably have a happy, energetic, confident cast and that was most definitely the case with Cinderella.
All three members of this production team have been involved with Tiddington Players for years and I maintain that when they are heavily involved we are at our best. They ensured this was a joyful production.
More than anything else though, I have been reflecting on the talent and progression of the younger members of our cast. Our chorus were on point with their stage work and indeed, put a number of us older, two-left-footed cast members to shame during the dance numbers. Particular mention should go to Iris Stannard who carried off the role of Buttons with aplomb and even managed to throw in a few hysterical ad-libs, Hattie Hancox wowed the audience with her beautiful voice and played the perfect Cinderella, and Isabelle Johnson brought charm and humour to the role of Dandini, managing the antics of the Ugly Sisters with great skill. Special mention should also go to George Stokes who managed to play a dashing Prince Charming despite breaking her elbow less than a week before performing.
So what are my hopes for next year? That the success of this show encourages people to return, that we can attract new members, and that we can put on something equally as good on in 2026.
