The main factor in this lively and pretty production is that there is not a untraditional word in the script. The downside is that, in my opinion, Sleeping Beauty is possibly the most unsuitable subject of any pantomime, simply because it has virtually no story.
This places an enormous responsibility upon the comedy characters of the dame, in this case named Nanny Annie, and Lester the Jester. Fortunately, both Stuart Nurse and Robbie Bonar are up for it, even if the latter has to leap on stage yelling “Hi-ya kids” at least four times in the first 20 minutes.
Nurse is refined and nimble, Bonar a veritable jack-in-the-box and together they make a well-judged pairing, stringing out a collection of venerable gags and routines, with Bonar’s agility notable enough not to make the jokes he is lumbered with grate on the nerves.
But of course the children love the predictability of it all and seem to have a collective folk memory of every panto tradition. With its colourful scenery and excellent live accompaniment from Michael Roulston, not averse to joining in himself when the call comes, and Thierry Deneux, Judi Channing’s production is fast-moving, even it is set on a road to nowhere, and she certainly has picked an eager cast.
She has two well-contrasted fairies in Lindsay Cooper and Victoria Ward - the latter, as Carabosse, practically chewing up the scenery in her eagerness to terrify - a sweet Princess in Rachel Louise Miller, a stalwart Prince Valiant (Bryn Lucas) and a stalwart Lord Chamberlain in Alexander Giles, who suggests creaking old age when I would guess he is in his mid-twenties. And it’s nice to hear a Sondheim song in a panto.
,
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
