CBBC duo Dan and Jeff turn their comedic reduction skills from the Harry Potter oeuvre and onto more seasonal fare, with a show that demonstrates more understanding of what makes a successful panto than many full-length shows accomplish.
Fitting the plots of six pantomimes into a 90-minute play may be less challenging than retelling JK Rowling’s seven novels in the same time, but this allows the pair ample time to poke fun at some of panto’s more ridiculous traditions, whilst also using them to maximum effect. In a sense, Dan and Jeff have their custard pie and eat it in this regard, but it’s done with such obvious affection for the genre that it really works.
Simon Scullion’s set design, which starts off as a sparse pastiche of a Victorian pros-arch toy before opening up for a joyfully ridiculous mash-up of Aladdin and A Christmas Carol, does a fine job of providing an appropriate backdrop for the manic duo while fitting within the confines of a stage already prepped for the main evening show.
Indeed, of the two productions running at the Vaudeville at the moment, Potted Panto is by some way the more entertaining.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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