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To the William Loveless Hall! [where else?] …on Friday evening for the hyperlocal highlight in the Wivenhoe social calendar. Nope - not the Wivenhoe Town Council annual inspection of the accounts, but something else involving unexplained occurrences that no one can really account for - how else can you describe the trans-gender cross-dressing family fun that greeted me on Friday night?

We’re talking about the Wivenhoe Pantomime of course, and most definitely not the annual inspection of the Wivenhoe Town Council accounts. Plenty of cross-dressing, but no family element involved in the latter.

Phew.

Robin Hood has been in production since… well, ever since the last remnants of mascara were removed from the 2011 performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. Pantomime scripts need to written, auditions flush out the acting talent in the town and tights need to be bought en masse for the male members of the cast to wear. Planning for the Wivenhoe Pantomime 2013 starts on Sunday. Good luck, fellas.

But what of 2012? It always amazes me how the challenging theatre space of a contemporary rural village hall [ha!] can be transformed for one weekend of the year into the splendour of a stage that can stage a semi-professional production. If you were to invite an alien to the Loveless Hall for Panto weekend - or even someone from Fingringhoe - they would be under the impression that this is a professional theatre group.

Many of the fine volunteers do somehow manage to hold down arts related jobs back in the real world, but to volunteer so much time and commitment to the community is no mean feat. The experience and support rubs off on all around. What is great to see is that a generation of Wivenhoe kids have grown up through the Pantomime. They return each winter with slightly more wonky teenage hairstyles, but a bucket load of confidence that the Panto puts in place.

There is a definite sense of the Pantomime family operating across the whole production crew. It is a very welcoming and accepting family as well. Dave Harrison introduces you to the front room on arrival, Nick White and Greg Smith warm you up with the music, and then the front room parlour games begin with the performance.

And Woh! What a performance.

Hazel Humphreys‘ hyperlocal script was pitched perfectly. The story remained on course, but in- between we had diversions to Nottage-ham, Wivenhoe Wood and the Fingringhoe Turnip Festival. That’s not something that you get to experience everyday down at the Old Vic.

Everyone loves a Dame, and everyone in Wivenhoe loves Shane Diggens. The transformation from incredibly talented young theatre producer to an equally grotesque and gorgeous pantomime Dame was quite an achievement. I couldn’t recognise the young chap underneath all of the make up. I hope that he keeps it on when he next pops out to the Co-op.

Anna Chernova, cast as the non-speaking Ellen A Dale, amazes every year. I can’t think of a character that has ever had so little to say, yet has made such a physical impact. Her physical style of comedy could quite hold its own, so to speak, in a professional production.

Maid Marian delivered the musical professionalism via Zoe Mayhew, supported by Sara Rout’s rather dashing Robin Hood. I went bi-sexual for the evening. Those tights…

It is a sign of a successful Pantomime when the audience is divided between booing and cheering the villain. Jane Rayner’s Sherrif of Nottage-ham was despicable, yet her knowing nods and winks with the audience had us secretly egging her on. The back up from Steve Fisher’s hapless Guy of Gisborne was the perfect foil.

Add in Peter McDonagh’s dopey Friar Tuck, and Clare Kane as a hissing Witch Hazel, and every scene captured your attention and imagination. The chorus line of incredibly talented local kids carried the show with both the singing and the stage management.

But the biggest star of all had a walk on, walk off part, and truly stole the performance at the Loveless Hall. HUGE, HUGE apologies to the many hours that the cast has put into rehearsing Robin Hood, but the blink and you’ll miss it appearance of local singing star Angie Diggens stole the show. She didn’t even sing a single note, such is her stage presence.

Blimey.

And so farewell to another amazing Wivenhoe Pantomime. Many thanks to all the Panto family for such an incredible dedication to supporting truly hyperlocal theatre. The real value in the work is not the show itself, but the commitment to developing local talent and bringing out the confidence in the kids. It is a skill that could be transferred to the annual inspection of the Wivenhoe Town Council accounts.

See you on, um, Sunday.

2013, here we come…