Theatre
REVIEW TRADITIONAL PANTO ROBINSON CRUSOE AND THE CARIBBEAN PIRATES King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sun 27 Jan ●●●●●
‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s panto tiiiime!’ The sense of excitement in the theatre is palpable long before the curtain rises. And no wonder: the dream team that brought us last year’s 3D thriller, Aladdin is about to spirit us off to exotic climes in the company of a gormless local lad and his brassy mother, a mouthy mermaid and a gang of cut-throat pirates. The King’s panto more than lives up to these high
expectations from the opening scene in which Grant Stott’s Blackheart leads his crew through a swashbuckling routine as their pirate ship pulls into Leith Harbour. Then, an Edinburgh tram descends to the stage bearing panto dame par excellence Allan Stewart, be-wigged and clad in gingham as Mrs Crusoe, who breaks into an infectious rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’. The gags come thick and fast in Paul Elliott’s fruitily
funny, pacy show, with plenty of local tidbits and topical references thrown in for good measure. The hairy monster haunting mango island turns out to be none other than Susan Boyle; there’s a pair of bungling pirates called Jedward; there’s even a gentle dig at Stott’s Lothian Buses Ridacard advertising (‘Oh look, it’s the pus on the bus!’)
The production values are strong, from the singing and dancing of the ensemble to the set design, with some lovely visual gags thrown in courtesy of clown Charlie Cairoli and a stunning underwater sequence created by Safire’s Magic Light Puppet Company. Newcomer Moyo Omoniyi also demonstrates a wonderful vocal range as feisty Girl Friday.
But it’s the central performing trio of Stewart, Stott and Johnny Mac as Robinson who really bring the show to life, Stewart bringing a particular warmth and sense of rapport with the audience to his role as Mrs Crusoe. If you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned panto that’ll have you giggling helplessly from start to finish, the King’s delivers on all fronts. (Allan Radcliffe)
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REVIEW PANTO SINBAD THE PANTOMIME FEATURING THE LITTLE MERMAID Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, until Sat 2 Jan ●●●●●
Brunton Theatre’s panto tradition is in great health with several years of packed-out runs behind it. The detailed local references make the show all the more bespoke to its location, and about as far from an off- the-shelf show as you could imagine.
The 2009 production is no exception. With the action set on Fisherrow Harbour, a five-minute walk away, there are nods to local culture and throughout, from the Bass Rock, under which Atlantis lies, to Tranent, where ‘there be monsters’. Even the voyage taken by the motley crew takes in Musselburgh’s twin town of Champigny-sur-Marne in France.
At the centre is the love story between Sinbad (Gavin Paul) and Coral the mermaid (Julie Heatherill), who spends most of the show en pointe to signify her leg-less state. In hot pursuit of Coral and the pearl of beauty is the evil witch Crabsclaw, a fantastically evil and glamorous Isabella Jarrett.
Featuring enough costume changes on the part of Craig Glover’s dame Saucy Nancy to rival that of a big- budget Madonna spectacular, plenty of slapstick, crowd interaction and colourful set design, the show is visually impressive throughout. And with contemporary references ranging from SuBo to Britain’s Got Talent and recent pop songs, it feels very modern. No audience member should leave unsatisfied. (Hamish Brown)
REVIEW SEASONAL FAVOURITE PETER PAN Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Sun 3 Jan ●●●●●
JM Barrie’s classic is so familiar that it’s tempting to simply sit back and let it wash over you while ticking off key elements in a mental check-list: The large nursery with the open window in Kensington Gardens? Check. Flying on wires to Neverland? Check. Dastardly Hook, the Lost Boys and the ticking croc? Check, check, check!
So it’s to the credit of director Jemima Levick that her production of Peter Pan has a bit of fun with our expectations. Levick has stripped out some of the more saccharine elements, while brief portions of the stage directions are now read aloud as a way of highlighting where Levick’s version deviates from the original. In an inspired move, instead of the usual pin-prick of light darting around the stage, Tinkerbell is now portrayed as a disgruntled, heavy-footed creature spouting gibberish and clad in ballerina’s tutu and flying helmet. Barrie’s tale is so dense in incident that it’s virtually impossible to stage it successfully without cluttering the stage with lumbering bits of technology. Francis O’Connor’s set, while striking, compounds this problem, creating unwieldy set changes involving the dismantling of a huge bed that inhibits the pace of the action. Meanwhile, some of the set pieces, such as the battle between the Lost Boys and the pirates, descend into an incoherent rabble with large groups of actors crowding the stage.
But the show features enough energy and colour to keep kids of all ages entertained, with impressive turns from members of the Lyceum’s Youth Theatre as the Lost Boys and Scott Fletcher creating an appropriate mix of gung-ho bravado, puckishness and vulnerability as the boy who never grows up. (Allan Radcliffe)
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86 THE LIST 3–17 Dec 2009