pantomime
Veronica Lee
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells ★★★★Shirley Ballas (main picture), released from her day job as head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, certainly knows how to make an entrance, and as the Wicked Queen she does here in a range of fantastic costumes. She swashes her buckle – well, swishes her frock – with aplomb.Although Ballas's is the name above the title, the driving force of the show is Leon Craig in the Dame role as Nurse Nellie. He's terrific, much aided by a sparkling, family-friendly script by Paul Hendy (who can't resist a pun), and Damian Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Jack and the Beanstalk, Hackney Empire ★★★ It's always good news when Clive Rowe decides to don the frocks to play the Dame, and this year he has also taken over directing duties (with Tony Whittle), with a script written by Will Brenton. It's a straightforward retelling of the tale, pun-heavy – although I did miss the sauce that Rowe has brought to proceedings under previous writer Susie McKenna, and couldn't fathom why the Dame's love interest, Councillor Higginbottom (Whittle) was dressed as a Freddie Mercury tribute act.A giant has stolen Hackney-on-the Verge's musical harp and magic ring Read more ...
joe.muggs
Iron Maiden are in very many senses as English, as camp and as ridiculous as Christmas pantomime, even down to the “HE’S BEHIND YOU!” looming of their vast onstage zombie mascot Eddie. Which is not to say there’s nothing to them: far from it. Just like pantomime, their durability shows how much they speak to something deep and archetypal in their audience’s spirit. In some senses it’s that Englishness that underpins it – on this, their seventeenth album, as much as ever. For all the finesse and flamboyance of their playing, there is the spirit of an old Englishman painting model tanks in his Read more ...
Veronica Lee
In a much-depleted and truncated pantomime season that withered on the vine, the National Theatre's debut production of Dick Whittington lasted only four performances before the show was cancelled; it has now released this recording, which will be available throughout the current lockdown. It's an enjoyable two hours spent in amiable company, with lots of bright colours and fart gags to keep the young ones entertained while the adults will enjoy the saucy humour which the title character's name invites.The production started life in 2018 at the Lyric Hammersmith and writers Jude Christian and Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Cinderella ****I did worry that pantomime – that most audience-driven of theatrical pursuits – might not work through the tube, but Nottingham Playhouse's warm and funny show dispels any doubts. Pandemic jokes abound (the audience must be smelly because they're sitting far apart, for instance) in writer-director Adam Penford's inventive romp.The cast of seven inject a lot of energy into the show as distances must be kept on stage – the Prince (David Albury) and Cinderella (Gabrielle Brooks) can't share even a chaste kiss – but that doesn't stop the fun. Sara Poyzer as Fairy Godmother and Read more ...
Veronica Lee
When Qdos brought back pantomime to the Palladium three years ago after an absence of nearly 30 years, it set the bar high with superb production values, a large ensemble, a live band – and a stage stuffed with stars. Now those stars – Julian Clary, Paul O'Grady, Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers and Gary Wilmot – have become a sort of panto ensemble in their own right and reassemble for this year's outing, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.Traditionalists will quibble – perhaps fairly – as it's several minutes into the show before it even looks like a panto, when O'Grady's baddie, Baron von Savage Read more ...
Heather Neill
Reviewing Ian McKellen's show is, in one sense, like appraising the Taj Mahal or Mount Everest: he too is an awe-inspiring phenomenon. In another sense, Sir Ian is not like that at all, going out of his way to be available to the adoring patrons filling the theatre, apparently enjoying every minute of up to three hours from a jokey beginning geared to Gandalf and Widow Twankey to shaking a collecting bucket at the door as the audience leaves. Apparently indefatigable - despite this show marking his 80th birthday - he can even be found chatting to punters in the stalls during the interval. He Read more ...
stephen.walsh
I last saw this Magic Flute, directed by Dominic Cooke, when it was new, some 14 years ago, and I remember it mainly, I’m afraid, for its lack of visual charm. Nothing much has changed: the relentless box sets (designer Julian Crouch), not a leaf or a blade of grass to be seen; the ridiculous, glaring orange suitings, bowler hats and umbrellas for Sarastro’s men (Orangemen, naturally); the dullness alleviated only by some witty animal costumes (Kevin Pollard), and the three charming boys – one of them actually a girl – in sailor suits, riding an aerial bike made out of a fish.Of course, the Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Paul Merton has a lot of strings to his bow – stand-up, improv artist, historian of silent-movie-era comedy, quiz-show panellist, to name a few – and now he adds pantomime dame to his CV. He has appeared in television pantos before, but this is his first live outing, as Widow Twankey in Aladdin. What took him so long?After a hesitant start, Merton's command of the role grows and he throws in the odd line to keep the company on their toes (he is credited with supplying extra material for panto veteran Alan McHugh's script). His laidback Widow Twankey is less showy, in voice and costume, than Read more ...
Tom Birchenough
For those of us who have never thought much before about links between pantomime and Shakespeare, Fiona Laird’s new Merry Wives offers a chance to see how the combination works. Making short shrift of tradition, her version of the Falstaff comedy transports the action to a distinctly contemporary environment, with The Only Way Is Essex the most obvious cultural reference point, though there’s surely a touch of Albert Square, too. At its best, it manages a rambunctious energy and humour that should cut through the objections of purists.Most such protests will be centred around its treatment of Read more ...
Veronica Lee
Susie McKenna and Steven Edis have been creating pantos for Hackney Empire for 20 years, and over that time its seasonal offering has become the theatre's signature event. To add to the anniversary celebrations, Clive Rowe, who first donned false bosoms as the Dame in 1998, has, after a break, returned to play Widow Twankey in Aladdin, while Tameka Empson (from EastEnders) is also back, as the Empress of Ha-Ka-Ney. Happy times.McKenna, who also directs, has taken a few liberties with the story (but as the programme notes point out, so too have many folklorists and storytellers down the years Read more ...
Veronica Lee
In 2009 Sean Holmes, then Lyric Hammersmith's artistic director, made a bold move by reintroducing panto at the lovely Frank Matcham house after a long break. It was a box-office and critical hit, bringing in young audiences and celebrating the theatre's roots in the community while producing a quality but unstarry show. This year's offering, Dick Whittington, written by Jude Christian (who also directs) and Cariad Lloyd, remains true to the theatre's urban street style of storytelling.The story of Dick Whittington still feels relevant for London audiences; an out-of-towner comes to ye olde Read more ...