A first class performance from Pantomime team

I was honoured to be invited to the Pantomime as the Mayor and went with few expectations after reading the review in last week’s Chronicle. 

I was delighted to find that it was a wonderful three hours of entertainment, with no dull spots.  It kept small children entertained way beyond their bedtime. 

The dancing and costumes of the chorus were marvellous.  It was great to see so many young people show their talent, hard work and discipline.  

The leads were amazing, the singing strong and the dancing good.  We had some excellent baddies with great slapstick.

The heart of a pantomime is the comic characters and they did not disappoint, interacting well with the audience.  

The cast seemed to be enjoying themselves which transmitted to the audience. 

Did I enjoy it? Oh yes, I did!

Cllr Anne Wilde

Mayor of Abergavenny

Damning review of town’s pantomime

I am writing with a very bad taste left from a Facebook post I was shown last night from your Abergavenny Chronicle regarding a review of the Abergavenny panto production of Dick Whittington. 

The review was not only unnecessary it was dam right unkind. This is an amateur production by volunteers. The cast work incredibly hard, most of which are young children and some of which are actually very vulnerable children that the group provides a safe space and opportunity to.

I have no personal attachment to the society other than many fond memories attending productions as a child and now taking my daughter to them each year. 

On this note in terms of a review, my daughter spent the entirety of the production on Friday laughing joining in singing along and left smiling and telling her friends and family about the play. She is six and who the pantomime is aimed at.

The Chronicle should be providing support to local groups, societies and projects not knocking them on a public forum such as Facebook. If they cannot do this then I feel you should keep them out of your paper and social media platforms, as such opinions are unwanted, and the paper is devalued by such posts. 

I feel strongly that the Chronicle owes a public apology to the group and this ridiculous review removed. I look forward to a response and would be very pleasantly surprised if this email was published in your letters section.

Nathan Jarrold