Feel-Good, Festive, Feisty
Wizard of Oz Jr.
by L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg
Dramacube, Hampton Hill Red Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 19th December
Review by Daniel Wain
In his programme note, Dramacube producer Steve Leslie draws parallels between The Wizard of Oz and the company’s other Christmas production Legally Blonde. However, at this time of year, the much-loved tale of Dorothy realising that there’s no place like home seems more akin to panto: with a plucky heroine on a quest, befriended by a motley collection of comic sidekicks, helped by a good fairy and hindered by a wicked one.
Director Matthew Bunn, his creative team and 22-strong Red Cast embrace the feel-good festive mood. Hannah Calarco’s design is colourfully cartoonish and the set piece numbers, helmed by Rory Cubin and Heather Stockwell, are equally bright and bold. Special mention must be made of Calarco’s impressive parade of over fifty costumes, with her apple trees a standout.
Read more…There’s No Place Like Home
Wizard of Oz Jr.
by L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg
Dramacube, Twickenham Green Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 18th December
Review by Evie Schaapveld
Evie Schaapveld is one of our younger reviewers. Twelve years old, she acts with a number of local stage companies.
As we were making our way to Hampton Hill Theatre, I was looking forward to seeing the next Dramacube show. I always feel excited going to see the next generation of singers and actors. The lively auditorium was bustling with people looking forward to seeing their children perform after the months of rehearsing and all their hard work.
Read more…An Ice Jolly
Hatti and Pippa’s Christmas Adventure
by Ken Mason
Stephen Leslie Productions at Hampton Hill Theatre until 24th December
Review by Gill Martin
Forget the freeze, soaring energy bills, World Cup woes, industrial action on the railways, threats of a nursing strike and a dearth of Christmas cards thanks to a post workers’ walk-out. What better way to banish the blues than a festive fix of cheer with a magical Christmas show?
I joined around a hundred excited youngsters from Hampton Hill Junior School at Hampton Hill Theatre for the opening day of Hatti and Pippa’s Christmas Adventure. Their robin red uniforms matched pigtailed Hatti the Human’s scarlet coat as they jumped, sang, laughed and clapped throughout fifty minutes of fantasy and fun with Pippa the Penguin in her head waiter costume and yellow flapping flippers.
Read more…Role Models
The Flint Street Nativity
by Tim Firth
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre until 17th December
Review by Ian Moone
Many of us have memories, some more distant than others, of our own involvement in school Christmas nativities. In my youth, for example, I was proudly cast in the role of Joseph, much to the delight of my highly competitive Irish mother who proceeded to shoehorn this exciting news into every possible conversation. To be fair, as a child I never gave her much to brag about, so I can’t really blame her for wanting to cherish those rare moments of scholastic pride!
Read more…Hot Chestnuts
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, adapted by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
Rose Original at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 2nd January
Review by Lottie Walker
Bah humbug – that old chestnut A Christmas Carol is back again. But do not despair, for this particular chestnut has been roasted by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, and served up with all the festive trimmings along with a few new exotic spices.
Lloyd Malcolm has “previous” for making something new and exciting from what we think we already know (just look at what she made of Shakespeare in Emilia) and this new twist on the Dickens classic does not disappoint. Running at just under two hours including interval, director Rosie Jones has served up the perfect Christmas treat for children that in its retelling loses none of the deeper message Dickens intended. And in Lloyd Malcolm’s adaptation that message is brought bang up to date; the meaning of workhouses may be lost on younger members of the audience; the reference to food banks not so.
Read more…Circo-Pantus
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
by Alan McHugh, additional material by Phil Walker
Crossroads Pantomimes at Richmond Theatre until 31st December
Review by Thea Diamond
Richmond Theatre is one of the most atmospheric venues for the annual outing to the pantomime – one of the oldest surviving Frank Matcham theatres, set on Richmond Green with surrounding Duke Street and Parkside beautifully adorned with twinkling seasonal lights. All that was needed to complete this magical Christmas card scene was a sprinkling of frost and carol singers on the steps (both of which we were lucky enough to be treated to on this rather freezing cold evening).
However, this is where tradition ends. If this is your first visit to the pantomime, let me tell you, this Goldilocks and the Three Bears is not your typical panto – there’s no fairy tale plot, no audience sing-along action songs nor an invitation for youngsters to join the fun on stage. This is a variety show extravaganza, with spectacular circus acts to completely blow you away with the sheer talent on display. What it lacks in well-known song adaptations and smutty topical innuendoes, it more than makes up for in the scale and quality of the production.
Read more…Dexterous Delights
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens, adapted by Beth Flintoff
Reading Rep company at Reading Rep Theatre, Reading until 31st December
Review by Sam Martin
Beth Flintoff’s adaptation of the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol is an ideal opportunity to get into the festive spirit. A warm welcome of mulled wine and a fun selfie station with an array of period hats creates a sense of anticipation and familiarity with this theatrical tradition. Flintoff provides a new spin on the classic tale, setting the narrative in Reading itself, with Huntley and Palmers’ biscuit factory the place of Scrooge’s business empire. This is a clever and endearing variation, pulling on the local audience’s knowledge of the legacy of Huntley and Palmers and the surrounding areas of Reading.
Read more…Game for a Laugh
Guardians of the Pantoverse
by Daniel Wain, lyrics adapted by Nigel Cole and Lizzie Lattimore
Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Hill Theatre until 11th December
Review by Thea Diamond
With Christmas fast approaching, what better way to start the season with a visit to Hampton Hill Theatre to be immersed not only into the world of panto, but into the world of gaming. Daniel Wain’s original piece written especially for this production and directed by Nigel Cole, not only incorporates all aspects of this best loved festive tradition (the cheering and booing for our heroes and villains, the cross dressing, and plentiful audience participation and joining in with action songs), but the tale has also been cleverly based in the world of video games, also incorporating many gaming genres, as well as a mixture of songs old and new, and viral internet videos and memes.
Read more…Take a Gander
Mother Goose
by Will Brenton
Hackney Empire Productions at the Hackney Empire until 31st December
Review by Quentin Weiver
When music hall impresario, Oswald Stoll commissioned the design of the Hackney Empire Palace, he wanted the most beautiful theatre in the world, a theatre to open the new Twentieth Century as the best ever, so he turned to the incomparable architect Frank Matcham. Notwithstanding the London Coliseum or Richmond Theatre, other Matcham masterpieces, it remains an impeccable example of its kind. Opened in 1901, it rapidly gained fame as a music hall, attracting well-known names such as Charlie Chaplin or Stan Laurel.
Pantomime had recently become a staple of the music hall, and pantomime had widened its appeal by featuring popular music hall stars. But Stoll wanted the best pantomime performers, and for the Hackney Empire’s first panto in 1902 he signed up Dan Leno, the Dame of Drury Lane who had been wowing Christmas panto audiences there since 1888.
Read more…Uninhibited Gusto
Cinderella
by Alan P Frayn
Network Theatre Company at Network Theatre, Waterloo until 4th December
Review by Nick Swyft
Tucked in down in the service area under Waterloo station is the little gem that is Network Theatre. This is the place to go for a refreshing and very welcome return to ‘Traditional Pantomime’. It seems that in recent years, panto has been swamped with various modern agenda and has suffered as a result. Cinderella brings us back to the kind of uproarious uninhibited ‘gender bending’ entertainment that predates Ru Paul by hundreds of years. Even Dandini’s (Gabriela Papievyte) thigh slapping was back! The audience loved it.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 