Loughborough’s traditional panto is unbeatable. Bigger investment has followed increasing success, so the costumes are more sumptuous and the special effects more magical than ever. There’s a breathtaking flying carpet sequence, a panto elephant, a stunning dragon’s mouth cave.
But it’s still the fresh and inventive script and the total dedication to the story that make the show outstanding. There’s no dependence on soaps and reality shows, no allusions to popular culture. It’s full of bang, crash and wallop, including the sort of slapstick that has Martin Ballard’s Widow Twankey and Neil Bull’s Wishee Washee skidding around in wellies. This seasoned pair exhaust all the possibilities of a joke without ever exhausting the audience’s appetite for it.
It’s bold, bright, fast-moving and impeccably timed. Nick Barclay makes a welcome return as the cloak-swirling, lip-curling Abanazar. Leon Craig is a flamboyant Genie of the Lamp, nutty Sgt Ping and wobbly-mouthed Emperor, playing each role more outrageously than the last. Emily Latham makes her professional debut as a very engaging Aladdin, well matched with Alice McGreevy as Princess Baldroubadour, and there’s not a weak link in the cast.
Bags of participation too, from an audience who warmed to every bit of it.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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