BEING masked and wrapped up in the ventilated venue didn’t prevent appreciative audiences from enjoying Roadwater Players’ latest pantomime, The Rat King, in Roadwater Village Hall last week.

This was the latest collaboration between director Sarah Kingsford, and her scriptwriter daughter, Katherine. Remembering their previous shows – Dracula’s Christmas, Nellie the Elephant and Jabberwocky, regular Players’ supporters would have known that they could expect the unusual.

Katherine’s script cleverly incorporated almost every category of pantomime character and element. She began with what is usually the ending – the wedding walk-down, giving us the chance to meet the residents of Sweet Honeyland in a beautifully evocative landscape created by the talented Rob Hand, who was given plenty of scope for his skill and inventiveness as the show progressed.

Having bid a musical farewell to their newly-wed daughter (Brenda Mandziej) and her Prince (Jacqueline Heard), Richard and Jacqui Higgins – as the King and Queen in full regalia – were refreshingly at ease among their citizens, though they did have an armed guard behind them!

Dolly Mixture (Nige McBrayne in characteristic eyelash-fluttering form) was made a Dame in a mass goodwill dubbing by His Majesty and immediately established her presence and affectionately greeted “Silly” Billy Bumpkin, played by Peter Roberts with appropriate gaucheness.

As his pet, Felix the Cat (dreaded by the Rat King), young Lucia Marsh-Jarvis made up for the obvious verbal limitations of the role with convincing feline demeanour. However, the alpha female of this particular moment was the Good Fairy (Lizzy Callaghan in “top of the Christmas tree” attire), who compered in rhyming couplets.

The festivities over, the Rat King, played with customary assurance by Chris Marshall, entered to stir up the audience with the declaration of his intention to end all happy endings.

His young accomplices, Squeak and Eek, played by Ethan Williams and Daisy-Mae Crook and too endearing to be really malevolent, were given orders to annoy the villagers, while the Rat King would solicit the aid of the Raven Queen (Phaedra Rush).

Our comedy duo appeared in the guise of corvids Mag Pie (Sallyann King) and Jak Daw (Benedict Lintott), and throughout the show kept the audience amused during scene changes.

These were smoothly and swiftly handled by stage manager Allan Prentice’s team of Chris Sampson, Steve Marsh, Paul Richards and Neil Wilson, with Nancy Marshall i/c curtain.

Our introduction to the Raven Queen did not disappoint. Costumed by wardrobe doyen John Osborn, assisted by seamstress Linda Bickford, Phaedra Rush cut a dash in a superb outfit topped off with a headdress worthy of the Rio Carnival, and proceeded to assure us of her nastiness.

Dame Dolly, guided to this spooky spot by Mag and Jak, put forward her request for a cleaning job, to the Queen’s puzzlement, and was taken on. The resultant cleanliness and fragrance was naturally repulsive to the inhabitants, including the Rat King, who had no trouble in persuading the Raven Queen to join his crusade against happy endings.

The “antipanto” movement having been created, the corvids were instructed to enlist the assistance of Bella Donna, the wicked witch, played by Jacqueline Heard.

Jacqueline clearly relished being a baddie this time, and was found brewing a potion in an enormous cauldron (constructed by Steve Marsh). Her degree in chemistry was being put to good use, with the assistance of her toad familiar (Lizzy the Good Fairy, looking rather different!).

Dave Walder – in the sound and lights box – provided the necessary green tinge to match Bella’s complexion, and conjured up apt bubbling and hissing sounds to accompany his smoke effects.

However, Bella was missing the academic life and vowed to return to serious scientific work. Her absence thwarted Mag and Jak, who, in the effort to find something of magical value to bear away, wrecked the lair. (Congratulations to Peter Roberts on his self-destructing set of shelves).

The resultant appearance of Jeanie the Genie (Sarah Reed looking convincingly ‘Arabian Nights’) from the broken bottle in which she had been imprisoned was followed by the squandering of two of the three wishes she offered, the last being commandeered by the Rat King to end all...yes, you’ve got it.

Returning to the Raven Queen’s castle, we found the effects of the Rat King’s wish causing considerable discomfort, not least to the now flea-infested Rat King himself. (Dame Dolly’s ecologically sound cleaning products were also a bit of a problem.)