Once upon a time takes a different twist in the Mansfield theatre group’s latest offering “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon!” which opened on Saturday night to a full audience.

This latest Mansfield & Dramatic Society’s (MMuDs) production has utilised the magical skills of Maree Cordes as producer, and directors Bernie Gifford and Meredith Newman, to skillfully to provide a vehicle for the next generation of actors while building on the talents of those involved in previous shows.

The three women have all graced the stage as performers themselves in stellar roles with MMuDs; and that experience shows in the casting of the Brothers Grimm play.

As patrons arrive it is advisable to leave any preconceived ideas about the famous fairy tales collected and published by German academics Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as many of us remember from our childhoods, firmly at the door and settle in for this rollicking ride through 209 of the stories.

The play written by Don Zolidis takes many of the dark tales and turns them into a script full of jokes and quips based on the original material.

Once the curtains are pulled back and the two narrators step up on the podium to take us on this journey of mayhem, modern adaptions and unbelievable scenarios, we are exposed to a mish mash of storylines from characters that were popularised by the Grimm brothers.

Narrator One, Natalie Laviolette is a newcomer to MMuDs but brings with her a wealth of experience.

Canadian-born, she has been on the stage in community theatre from eight years old and played the roles of Cinderella, Hansel and Prince Charming in a high school production of the Brothers Grimm so well prepared for the narrator’s role.

Narrator two, Jack Arrowsmith, a natural on the stage and all-rounder continues to delight MMuDs audiences with his dedication and his approach to any role ranging from the lead in Elephant Man, Dale Kerrigan in The Castle2 and Roo in Kid Stakes.

The pair come together perfectly to create a fast-paced narrative and excel in driving the play along without any noticeable pauses making for an energetic and up-tempo vibe.

The panto-feel of the show lends itself to audience participation with the appropriate sound effects and some members adlibbing their own lines including one about the CWA catering.

A brilliant actor plant yelling out “look behind” provided lots of interjections until he ran out the door to the foyer in fear and frustration.

Many of the cast members were adept at playing dual roles or even three and showing off different aspects of their acting talents.

The dialogue includes contemporary language with mentions of cell phones and some gender role reversals when it comes to who does the housework.

Mansfield identity Will Twycross as the “weird little guy” is priceless but his portrayal as the second dwarf (or little person) brought the house down and attracted huge cheers from the audience.

There were many impressive performers on the night but some that stood out included Evie Guthridge as Cinderella in the second half.

The young actor was forceful in her request for narrator two – Jack – to take up the other roles in the Cinderella story when a bout of food poisoning sees performers unable to come on stage.

(Note: the food poisoning had nothing to do with the CWA!)

From this moment, the play takes an unexpected turn with Jack Arrowsmith, displaying great agility and stamina in bouncing between various parts and providing the highlight of the evening.

Other notables on the night were Abi Heron as the devil, a role clearly relished by the young actor and Little Red who deftly dealt with the bad wolf in grandma’s clothing.

The much-maligned wolf was perfectly played by Sam Arrowsmith.

Keeva Morris-Webb as Rapunzel stuck in a tower without wi-fi and Patrick Chandler as the handsome young prince were very much the modern couple playing the dating game.

Another young performer who made an impression was Jasper Watts; first as Hansel, then the frog prince who worked hard to gain a kiss from the princess, and as prince number three.

As we have come to expect from any MMuDs’ production the staging and costumes are of the highest standard thanks to the talents and dedication of the backstage crew.

There are six remaining performances at the Mansfield Performing Arts Centre: Thursday 9 October - 7pm, Saturday 11 October - 7pm, Sunday 12 October - 2pm, Tuesday 14 October - 7pm, Thursday 16 October - 7pm and Saturday 18 October - 7pm.