PANTOMIME REVIEW: Robin Hood: The Rock 'N' Roll Panto - The Everyman Theatre, Liverpool

Panto is for those growing up and the never grown-up; an essential part of theatre tradition and an integral feature of the festive season. This makes it all too easy for most theatres to simply choose from Aladdin, Cinderella or another premise from the select list of old stalwarts and present it with all the familiar characters, clichés and routines. Often a review of one production can be used for another show anywhere else in the country and no-one will notice the difference (other than a cast list containing one or two celebrities). ‘Robin Hood’ at the Everyman was refreshingly different, defying predictability whilst still remaining firmly rooted within the tradition of traditional pantomime.

‘Robin Hood’ is usually linked with ‘Babes In The Wood’ if used as a pantomime theme but this production started on a clean slate, with Robin Hood styled on a cross between Arthur Askey and Ronnie Corbett, married to a huge pantomime dame and having an attractive young daughter. If that sounds incongruous, the whole story bore no resemblance to anything else, with an astonishing array of characters ranging from an aquatic superhero, a wicked queen, a pizza salesman (in Sherwood forest?), fairies, a few cowboys, a couple of flowerpot men and a dandy highwayman, amongst many others. The amount of sequins and glitter on display would have put any '70’s glam rock band to shame and the ever-changing display of fantastic costumes provided a plethora of vibrant colours and exotic patterns.

This was an actor-musician show with every member of the eleven-strong cast displaying musical prowess. A minstrels’ gallery on the second level enabled all the cast to retreat in and out of the band but many instruments were played in the ample, central performance area, during several set-piece dance routines. Interestingly, the songs were (almost) invariable from either the '70s or the '80s although for entrance music, most selections were taken from '60’s and '70’s children’s television themes (in one or two cases, even the 1950s!). All this provided pleasant memory jerkers for older generations whilst working well within the context of the show. The youngsters clearly loved ‘Robin Hood’, it making no difference that the songs and themes all originated decades before any of them were even born.

The overall feel of the comedy was incredibly camp, even by the standards of conventional pantomime and there is no doubt that the likes of Larry Grayson, Frankie Howerd or John Inman would have felt very much at home delivering much of the near-the-knuckle humour. In this respect, the show really did work well on different levels, which is more than can be said for many of the pantomimes on offer these days. ‘Robin Hood’ managed to avoid pretty much every over-used and annually regurgitated pantomime cliché and the pace never wavered with the right balance between music and comedy consistently maintained.

The show boasted an effective amount of large props with the large performance area used to good advantage. The multi-level set, with a great, flowing staircase was impressive, allowing for numerous entrances and was integrated into a large central area, which various trap-doors, all of which were all used to good effect for both entrances and exits. Credit must also be given to the lighting which was to great effect in creating an underwater scene.

‘Robin Hood’ was an excellent, fun show but it was also an object lesson in just what can be done within the context of pantomime. It is possible to stay within the context of a genre whilst at the same time being thoroughly original; ‘Robin Hood’ scored on both levels.

Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 1.12.21