Theatre
SLEEPING BEAUTY Kings Theatre, Glasgow, until Sun 8 Jan ●●●●●
As much a part of the Glaswegian festive season as green and blue santa hats, the King’s Theatre panto looks like an institution defiant of change. So it is refreshing to find a new face, Arron Usher as Jimmy Jingles the Jester, going through the familiar motions with an energy the crowd could not resist. The traditional celebrity cast members and faces off the telly need ballast and Tony Roper – Jamesie Cotter in a spangly cloak and veteran thesps Kathryn Howden and Steven McNicoll – do a fine job.
Karen Dunbar as Nanny is, in many ways, the natural successor to Stanley Baxter. Her androgyny makes for a grand dame and her background in karaoke ensures that the musical numbers – especially Shang-A-Lang, performed in Westwoodesque tartan frock and red DMs – are a delight.
Casting Clare Grogan as Carabosse feels like an excuse to wheel out ‘Happy Birthday’ in a show about a young girl turning 18. Performing her biggest hit, in a purple tutu, while waving a giant needle and dancing with a life-size teddy, goes beyond pantomime and not in a good way.
The sets and the costumes are feeling the
cold hand of the recession, with several repeats and fewer visual fireworks than yesteryear. Prince Joseph’s fight with a projected dragon is particularly underpowered. There are a couple of superfluous musical numbers and one out of date joke – Clatty Pats closed in 2006. But Nanny more than saves the day and sends everyone home happy. (Anna Burnside)
N O T S N H O J N H O J
MISTER MERLIN Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 31 Dec ●●●●●
JACKIE AND THE BEANSTALK MacRobert Arts Centre, Stirling, until Sat 7 Jan ●●●●● CINDERELLA King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sun 22 Jan ●●●●●
The Tron are renowned for their Weegie take on a festive tale, and Mister Merlin, written by Alex Norton and directed by Andy Arnold, is an enjoyable reworking of a show last performed in the 1980s. Poor old Merlin’s wand has been stolen by some panto baddies (Bumble and the pleasantly named the Great Bahookey), so it’s up to his former wind- up toy pals and now real kids, Penny and Peter, to get it back for him. With a little help from the Govan Fairy, who always speaks in perfect rhyme, the duo brave a haunted forest and several Marx Brothers- style physical comedy skits in a bid to help their favourite wizard. A modest two-man band complements pre-
recorded sound effects with stage pianos, tubas and cymbals in the numerous singalongs during the performance (audience participation is definitely required for this one). The Great Bahookey, played by Keith Fleming, is a comical highlight, coming off every bit as smug as Matt Berry’s smarmy boss in The IT Crowd. There’s plenty of sly puns, lots of audience interaction and songs. Oh, and a hairy, one-eyed monster with a big trunk. (Lauren Mayberry)
114 THE LIST 15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012
According to panto dame Dott Von Trott, things have got so bad in the austerity-stricken pantosphere that ‘parents in Bridge of Allan have started firing their nannies and learning their own kids’ names.’ Serious times indeed, and there’s something about
Johnny McKnight’s abrasive-yet-charming persona that suits our belt-tightening era. His dame is a cash-strapped underdog, a waspish voice-of-the- people, a sharp-tongued fighter adept at triumphing in the face of adversity. She has a Lily Savage swagger and a quick-lipped way with words. She is hilarious and, when she goes on walkabout in the auditorium, also a little scary. Despite also writing and directing, McKnight gives
full rein to the ensemble, youth-theatre chorus and all. This is a female-centred twist on the classic tale in which Helen McAlpine’s Jackie is determined to break free of sexual stereotyping and slay the giant herself. In the end, she needs her sister and a good fairy to help her, even though Jonathan Holt as the Tim Burton-inspired baddie turns out to be all bluster, but it’s great to see the sisters doing it for themselves. (Mark Fisher)
The great strength of the King’s panto, year upon year, is its ability to hook audiences of all ages and tastes. The script, co-written by Paul Elliott and everyone’s favourite dame, Allan Stewart, features great dollops of slapstick and toilet humour, a plethora of local references and tons of audience interaction. Throw in cheerful scenery and costumes that wouldn’t look out of place at a Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and you’ve got a gaudy, breathless entertainment that whips its audience into a frenzy and keeps them there for a couple of hours. Cinderella is this year’s fairytale of choice for Elliott and co, though, as ever, the story is subordinate to the driving energy of the performances. Stewart gets to show off his versatility, strumming a ukelele, staging a one-woman ceilidh and impersonating the tenor from the Go Compare! ads while providing the show’s warm beating heart as Baroness McSquirrel. Andy Gray as Buttons is the soppy foil to Stewart’s feisty dame, while arch-Hibee and face of Lothian Buses Grant Stott steals the show and all the best costumes to stand seven-feet tall in heels and wig as villainness Gobina McPhlegm. (Allan Radcliffe)