The Stage

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Published Monday 14 December 2009 at 13:25 by Kevin Berry

Goldilocks is a perfect choice for this historic venue. One of the first fairy tales that children encounter, it is too rarely performed in pantomime form. George Critchley has given this version fresh material and new routines yet it remains a heartwarmingly traditional panto.

Tony Howes (Silly Billy) in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, Yorkshire

The audience is involved from the off. Louise Willoughby’s sweetly voiced Goldilocks sings one song in the stalls, while James Lavender’s dastardly, top-hatted Edwardian villain sits in a box with a delighted young family.

Both Lavender and Michael Lambourne, who plays Igor, move with magnificent menace yet they are so loveable. Lavender is slinky, low and angular, ever twisting and turning and he really stirs the audience with his threats and sneers.

Tony Howes plays Silly Billy in the best way possible - traditionally, as if he himself was a music hall comic with streams of giggle and groan inducing jokes mixed with adept physical business. His delight in a demanding alliteration routine with Goldilocks comes from the heart. Paul Roberts adds a certain stature as Ringmaster Roberts and Charlotte Chinn makes a delicious fairy.

How they can all be on a small stage with a team of splendid dancers and still look comfortable is a triumph of choreography and direction.