★★★★☆ New Old Friends has teamed up with the Lichfield Garrick theatre to present a very adult take on the 12 Days of Christmas. A cast of just four peopled the Ustinov stage with 13 characters, circling each other with festive paranoia as the bumping off began, Agatha Christie style, one by one . . . Great fun.
Read MoreChris Pizzey, best known as Basil Brush’s sidekick Mr Stephen, is not only brilliant as the comedic Silly Billy but also as director of this rib tickler of a show. Excellent storytelling has been interspersed with hilarious comedy routines and an eclectic mix of songs, old and new, perfectly accompanied by Christopher Duffy and his band . . . The pantomimes at Malvern seem to get better and better every year and this year is an absolute triumph. Sleeping Beauty is fresh, funny and full of heart.
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There’s a bit of a fad amongst chefs for ‘deconstructing’ old favourite recipes. Thus you might find yourself eating a bit of crumbly something or other with something lemony and another item of creamy stuff all going under the name of ‘cheesecake’. Eric Potts, in writing a version of Cinderella that can accommodate the extraordinary and much loved talents of Torvill and Dean has done something similar for pantomime. This panto gently nudges the boundaries of the tradition and in doing so fills the theatre with all round family entertainment.
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Drawing on Caravaggio’s painting, The Seven Acts of Mercy, as inspiration, Lustgarten’s play attempts a commonality between the seventeenth century painter’s relationship with power (nobles and the Church) and his depiction of the common man’s empathy to his fellow man, as outlined in Matthew 25:36-37, and contemporary down-at-heel lives in Bootle, Liverpool
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Rocky, A Horror Show is the latest contribution to the Wardrobe Theatre’s Yuletide tradition of turning two very different kinds of entertainment into unlikely bedfellows. Last year they combined a sweet fairy tale with a gory tale of gangland violence in Goldilock, Stock & Three Smoking Bears.
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Jon Monie and Nick Wilton are entertaining us at the Theatre Royal Bath – so it must be Christmas! Mr Monie has become the consummate panto comic lead. His is the kind of performance that allows you to sink comfortably into your seat knowing you are in good hands . . . a colourful family show firmly anchored in a warm-hearted festive tradition with a simple story and entertaining performances all round.
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