Panto review - ‘Babes in the Wood’

Lewes, March 1978. No bypass, no superstore... and no Harveys in the Lewes Arms, at least not under that name. A youthful Roz South and Adam Frost take to the boards for the very first Lewes Arms Dramatic Society panto (it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I’m told).
Fast-forward thirty years…and the still youthful-looking pair are on stage again, the only surviving members of the original cast. It’s the ‘LADS on-tour’ at the Constitutional Club, bringing you their alternative and 'adult' pantomime, ‘Babes in the Wood’, with Harveys at the bar. On Wednesday 7 March, the second night of the run, I willingly paid over my fiver, as proceeds go to the Sasha Roberts Scholarship Fund. I grabbed a seat, sporting my ‘Boycotte the Notyngham Arms’ badge, with a good view of the stage which Derek Haggar, Tim Ash & Dominic Aynsleigh had constructed and which was enhanced by the scenery that Peter Varnham had designed and painted.
The new venue, and possibly also the new director Adam Sobot, have given LADS a shot in the arm, I think. There was even room for a Benny Hill-style chase! High tech had also arrived with the new sound engineer Amanda Deadman and her lap-top. Sharing her technical table was the creative lighting crew, Pat and Robin Lee, Adam & Roz gave their usual strong performances as the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham and Maid Marion (Roz was also the pantomime’s producer). Mark Jarvis brought his brand of idiocy to the role of Robin Hood. If he was acting, could he really be that good, I wondered? Steve Mockford was back as the cerebrally-challenged Guy of Guisborne, with Roger Palmer as a flatulent and distinctly pervy Friar Tuck.