School -- November 21-30 'Tis the season when Bermuda, in a short-lived burst of communal fraternity, likes to shake off its inhibitions and indulge in a little participatory theatre. That local audiences love this annual exercise in whooping, hollering, and dancing in the aisles, has never been in doubt. This year, devotees can enjoy two doses of the traditional pre-Christmas pantomime, the first of which opened to a packed house on Thursday night.

Warren Cabral has adapted the Bermuda Pantomime Company's `The Three Musketeers', the classic French story of dashing, be-wigged swordsmen and female spies into a pantomime which has as many Bermudian as Gallic touches.

Indeed, this particular production arose out of a desire by the author to present a pantomime that would, in his words, "develop a uniquely Bermudian approach to the traditional English pantomime''.

There can be no doubt that this concept is a popular one. Warren Cabral has a good ear for our local dialect which enabled him to make the most of his carefully chosen three musketeers who, abandoning the romantically French names of Athos, Porthos and Aramis, become the more locally attuned Ace-Boy, Aerobix and Portly.

It fell to Patricia Pogson as artistic director to bring her particular expertise to the production. This is partly her ability to pace the momentum (whether it's drama or comedy) and to tap the reserves of even her best performers. She is certainly to be congratulated for uncovering and then nurturing the exceptional talent of Daren Herbert. He began what is surely becoming an exciting career in her celebrated Road Shows, was given a lead role in Jabulani's `Once On This Island' and recently scored a huge success in the Broadway in Bermuda concert.

In `The Three Musketeers' he plays the leading role of D'Artagnan, the would-be musketeer who wants to join that best of all units, the Bermuda Regiment. This was an intelligent, humorous and sparkling performance, topped off by a superb singing voice: his rendition of `When a Man Loves a Woman' just about stopped the show, with what appeared to be an entire fan club of young girls screaming their approval from the back of the audience.

The wildly complicated plot of this pantomime centres around this young hero who saves the French Queen from the wicked schemings of Cardinal Richilieu and his henchman, Comte de Rocquefort-Chees.

As leader of the Musketeers, the incomparable Ed Christopher repeated former panto successes with his wonderfully laid-back humour and wry jibes about local worthies and unworthies. He was joined by Angelo Pimental who gave a nice account of a hopelessly confused Portuguese, obsessed not so much by making `lotsa money' as by spending it (on food, hence `Portly' -- get it?) and, finally, a virtuoso performance being turned in by Adrian Beasley who, completing the trio as Aerobix, pays homage to that other local preoccupation, the gym. A curled and blonded keep-fit fanatic, Beasley seemed to understand perfectly (as he did so hilariously in the Saltus production of `Dracula Spectacula') the power of high camp delivered with dead-pan hauteur .

Every decent pantomime needs a wicked spy and in this case, it is the "beautiful but dangerous'' Mark Pettingill who steps uproariously into the traditional female guise of `Milady'. Revelling in bouffant hairdos and an array of comely costumes that favoured leopardskin, `Union Jack' very short shorts and slinky nightclub numbers, he gives some credence to the widely held belief that inside every lawyer is a comedian manque m.

There were good performances from Grant Spurling, clad in regal scarlet as the Cardinal and his side-kick, the eloquently evil Comte, played by Roy Richardson. Making his Bermuda debut was Nigel Lock, whose comic account of the Duke of Buckingham suggests a bright future on the Bermuda boards.

While the habit of `miking up' just about every production at City Hall is in some ways reprehensible, it is easy to forget the frustration of inaudible speech. Luckily, this was not a major problem in this production, although some lines were lost, most notably by Dee Edmunds, the front and tapping half of the Horse With No Name . The carefully built-up suspense (with a big drum roll) was thrown away as no one could hear the name when she was finally persuaded to announce it.

Although the first half could have been cut by 15 minutes or so (church hall seats are not the best), Cabral and Pogson wisely kept the songs to a minimum.

Even so, one or two more shaky numbers could usefully be ditched. Music overall was lively, with James Burns' arrangements vividly realised by musical director Louise Bradley and Coral Waddell once again providing danceable and attractive routines for principals and chorus.

The hard-working production team has certainly made the most of the less than perfect venue of the Pembroke Sunday School building; John Gardner's sets are ingeniously designed -- it was perhaps the sheer number of changes besides the lack of backstage space that sometimes proved difficult on opening night.

This is not, and neither does it pretend to be a lavish production. For those who like a local slant on their comedy (and many do) this is an evening that's full of the traditional political jokes, groan-inducing puns and, best of all, some really wild sing-alongs -- not least a spirited version of the Macarena which had the entire audience crazily on its feet. They loved it.

PATRICIA CALNAN THEATRE REVIEW REV