Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

book and lyrics by Alfian Sa'at
music by Elaine Chan
WILD RICE
Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre, Singapore

Colour, comedy and cheer are three things one has come to expect from the annual WILD RICE pantomime and this year's edition, a revival of 2008's Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, certainly does not disappoint. Written by Alfian Sa'at and directed by Hossan Leong, it's a relatively faithful adaptation of the classic fairy tale with delicious local tweaks. 

The story itself is straightforward. The Eternal Kingdom is ruled by a Queen obsessed with looks and beauty. She crowns herself the winner of the local beauty pageant every single year and makes her law-abiding subjects go for mandatory "enhancements" at the age of 18 to correct their flaws. When her truth-speaking Magic Mirror declares that her stepdaughter Snow White is now the fairest of them all, the Queen does not take it well. She plans a nasty procedure to disfigure Snow White during her "enhancement". 

Fortunately, Snow White manages to escape and flees to the Outer Limits, where she encounters a group of misfits (the Seven Dwarfs) who have been banished from the kingdom for not conforming to its standards. The disguised Queen tries to poison Snow White with an apple but all is restored when the latter receives a life-bestowing kiss from her Prince Charming and takes over the crown. 

There's indeed something for audiences of all ages, from the eye-catching costumes (Tube Gallery) and jaunty music (Elaine Chan) to the cheeky references to local life and politics that Alfian peppers the script with. Chua Enlai is a scene-stealer as the haughty, sneering Queen, panto stalwart Siti Khalijah shines in a dual role as the Magic Mirror and a sharp-tongued nanny and newcomer Nadya Zaheer wins the crowd's heart as the warm, sweet-natured Snow White. The First Stage Kids, another fixture of the Wild Rice panto, provide plenty of charm and rambunctious energy to go along. While I did feel that the production went on a little too long at nearly three hours, it was truly heartwarming seeing kids enthusiastically yelling at the actors when asked a question and the whole ensemble having a riot of a time on stage. 

Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs runs till 23 December and a couple of new shows have just been added so do consider going for a fun night out at the theatre. I've been bringing my parents along for the past few years and it's become a bit of a family tradition over the festive season!

The Crystalwords score: 3/5