12 – 16 April
Some members of the audience may have been disappointed by the change in casting as comedian John Bishop was unavoidably replaced in the part of Vic Goose by understudy Gabriel Fleary. However, he was more than competent with his easy-going charm, warm working of the audience and good work as straight man, generating plenty of laughs. Despite that, the deciding factor determining whether Mother Goose flew or crash landed was always going to be none other than national treasure Sir Ian McKellen in the title role. Swapping his knighthood for a Dame would be a bold and risky move for many octogenarian theatrical greats, but not this Lancashire lad.
McKellen’s love of pantomime shines through the evening, as does his stagecraft. He is genuinely hilarious in every ridiculous costume change and almost single-handedly conveys the essential morality of the tale.
We are first introduced to Mother Goose living in a deserted Debenhams, one of several topical jokes about the state of the nation. The audience are invited to boo every time ‘The Energy Company’ are mentioned, there is an appearance of a greedy pig in school tie called Boris as well as a llama who identifies as a donkey. Silly, zany jokes abound as MG plays mum to a menagerie of curious animal misfits.
Some of these misfits misfire and the energy is lost somewhat with the introduction of the first of many staple pop hits of the 80’s and 90’s which appear for no other reason then it seemed the right place for a song. It is a shame that too many of them bear no relevance to the plot.
The script by Jonathan Harvey is chock full of jokes and the pace is unrelenting, but although the cast work hard there are too many lazy moments. Occasionally the impression given is that a bunch of panto-like substance is chucked in to see how it goes. There is a superfluous ghost scene, some unnecessary business in Gooseland and overly repeated encouragement of the audience to shout out.
An exception is Oscar Conlon-Morrey as Mother Goose’s son Jack. He is always full on, throwing himself around the stage with vim and maintaining a genuine connection with the audience. The messy cake making scene is a classic, brilliantly executed and garnering good laughs.
However, it is of course Ian McKellen who carries the show. A highpoint is the second half which opens with zest, with MG popping up in a variety of crazy public events as she revels in her newfound fame. When McKellen delivers one of the many double entendres they never seem coarse or heavy handed. His breaking out into Gandalf when he mishears reference to Orks and the inclusion of the ‘quality of mercy’ speech from The Merchant of Venice are spot on. More than anything McKellen emanates a genuine warmth about his character and a generosity towards other performers. It was a pleasure to watch him get pleasure from entertaining us.
★★★☆☆ Bryan J Mason, 13 April, 2023
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
