A hugely entertaining, modern take on Mother Goose story
By David Flynn
The legend of Mother Goose is told in a modern way this month at Athlone’s Dean Crowe Theatre along with moral lessons which show the leading lady, (played by John McGlynn), and her family and friends triumphing over poverty and homelessness, via a quick trip to the fountain of youth!
The cast and crew of Athlone’s latest pantomime have worked hard to produce the show, which brought laughs, foot-tapping and uncontrolled humming from audiences since it opened last weekend. Mother Goose features talented Athlone youngsters and their slightly older chief cast members. At times during the massive stage production, there were around 120 individuals on the Dean Crowe stage.
Image 1 of 4
Rachael Kenny, Favour Adetayo, Madison Buckley, Molly Gallagher, Lily Malone and Sophie Heneghan, who all took part in the Mother Goose panto in the Dean Crowe Theatre last Sunday.Image 2 of 4
Pictured were some of the performers at the perfomers at the Mother Goose panto in the Dean Crowe Theatre last Sunday, front row: Emma Powell, Alex Reid, Abigail Olwill and Mia Olwill, and in rear, Eoin Dillon, Matthew Shine, Sarah Dooley, Ella O’Reilly, Meliagh McDonagh, Cian McEnroe and Ronan Croughan at rear. ALL Photos Paul Molloy.Image 3 of 4
Isabelle Leech, Maryan Adetayo, Sarah Sheehan, Richard Goode, Matthew Moran and Sophie Gethings who performed during the Mother Goose panto in the Dean Crowe Theatre.Image 4 of 4
Petrova Mulvey, John McGlynn, Joan Larkin, Mike Keena and Nicola O’Sullivan, some of the main perfomers in the Mother Goose panto in the Dean Crowe Theatre last Sunday.Kori Kilduff directed her cast and crew through a great show, which was levelled very well across multiple scenes which encompassed dancing and singing of popular songs with dollops of comedy thrown in by the actors.
John McGlynn twisted and turned himself in two from the beginning, running up onto the Dean Crowe stage and living the part of the matriarchal character, who finds herself and her son Jack and their friends homeless due to a rent problem. Everything topical was thrown at the audience. The actors who worked alongside John, including Richard Brown as the son Jack and his girlfriend Jill played by Cherise O’Moore, were brilliant, and the duo had great comic chemistry. Their friends, Silly Simon, played by the always excellent Jonathan Kilduff, and Mary played by lovely singer, Hannah Dowling, had a non-romantic but hilarious relationship, which left the audience wondering if they would or wouldn’t get together. Marjory the fairy, who managed to keep happiness in place and recession at bay in the wonderful land inhabited by Mother Goose, was played beautifully by Margaret Mulligan. Another nice performance was played by Nicola O’Sullivan as Mayor Hickory - the on-off love interest of Mother Goose!
The brilliant voice and red devil makeup of the evil Demon Dark-Heart all came in the guise of the talented Joe Steiner. The demon’s sidekick, Maligna was played by the brilliant soprano, Petrova Mulvey.
A trio of not so bad guys, Mac, Benny and Bruno, who were a part of the saga, were played respectively and comically by Cian Mulhall, Mick Keena, and Alfie Kilduff. Joan Larkin played the challenging role of the mirror, Reflecta, who told some home truths to those who asked.
Choreographer Claudia O’Sullivan played a dual role of the minder of a Goose and the surprise role of the younger version of Mother Goose.
The scenery of the Mother Goose show was drawn in a lovely picture style by the well-known and popular local artist, Anna Boles.
Watch out for a great singing performance by Joe Steiner and Petrova Mulvey – of a song that they should record in future!
Athlone actor and director, Ray Collins has a history in pantomime going back 50 years. He played Robin Hood in the 1970s, and starred in Puss in Boots, Babes in the Wood and Cinderella in the old Dean Crowe Hall, long before it became a modern theatre. Ray was bowled over by the younger cast of Mother Goose on stage last weekend.
“I was delighted with the young people on stage dancing and singing and it was all very original with huge creativity,” said Ray. “There were some great performances, and I was blown away by the range of the singing in Petrova and Joe’s duet. The girl that did choreography, Claudia, played a blinder as the young Mother Goose. John McGlynn was very good and he reminded me of the professional panto actor, Val Fitzpatrick. He brought me back to that time, and he did very well. Jonathan Kilduff, who is a great comedian did one of his best ever performances. He worked well with Hannah Dowling and Cherise is always lovely on stage. The originality of the show blew me away. I loved the costumes of the chorus members on stage. Young Richard Brown also played a blinder and was excellent and a very good dancer and singer.”
Ray said that he noticed that the audience loved the show, and he could see the clapping and dancing of all ages of the audience throughout the performances.
“Pantomimes were different when I was younger and the shows were old-fashioned and choreography wouldn’t have been as modern as it is today,” he said. “Mother Goose is a great production showing the talents of young children, who are the future of shows, and it’s all looking very healthy for future years for the Athlone musicals. Kori and Claudia were a great team in the production.”
The Mother Goose Panto will take place in the Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone this Friday, January 13 at 7.30pm, on Saturday, January 14 at 2pm and 7.30pm and the final performance kicks off at 2pm on Sunday, January 15.
Tickets cost between €12.75 and €14 and and can be purchased on the Dean Crowe's website here