It's that time of year again... oh, yes it is! And for the last generous handful of years, Altrincham Garrick's family panto has proved to be a genuine highlight of the season. The things you can always count on here are bright and colourful sets and costumes, gags a-plenty, traditional routines and responses, and a feel-good atmosphere.
I am not saying that any of the above were missing this evening, not at all, but something certainly was. Perhaps it was because it was the opening night and the cast needed more time to 'bed-in'; perhaps it was because many of the jokes were just that little bit too near the knuckle that they became adult and cringeworthy rather than genuinely funny; or perhaps it was because the standard of the singing and dancing was not, in this reviewer's humble opinion, of the high standard that I have come to expect, know and appreciate from this society.
The show got off to a wonderful start; just exactly how a traditional panto should be... lots of flashes and bangs as an evil character that we all love to 'boo' - in this case Conor Collins as King Rat, obviously relishing channelling his evil side - enters stage left speaking in rhyme, whilst more flashes appear as the good fairy appears stage right - here Fairy Bow Bells (Bev Stuart-Cole) - also talking in rhyme, and the first 'Oh, yes it is' response sequence. Perfect... it could not have been done better. I sat back and started to relax..
From there on in however, the whole lacked pace and cohesion [see my comment about opening night and needing to 'bed-in]. The puns, jokes and general silliness came thick and fast, but some of the jokes missed their mark completely, however the youngsters thankfully didn't seem to notice.. they had come to have a good time, to cheer the goody and boo the baddy and laugh at all the silly visual gags, and all would have gone home having run their parents a merry dance but having enjoyed themselves in the process!
As far as the slighly older children were concerned then they were painfully aware of the 'double-entendre' that the word 'Dick' supplies, and for the panto to include so many of these obviously overt references, as well as many other sexual innuendos etc, the panto was moving away from 'family-friendly' territory. I gasped myself at the 'Wonka' joke!
Ethan Beer made for a sympathetic and likeable Dick Whittington, with his love interest Alice Fitzwarren played by a very fitting but demure Hannah Dorothy. Both could have shone much more than they did I feel had they been given a bit more direction; whilst Garrick regulars were Dan Ellis as our cheeky Idle Jack, Bill Platt a sturdy Alderman Fitzwarren, and Phil Edwards very much at home once again wearing the frocks as Sarah The Cook.
The identity of the final character - The Authority Of Morocco - has been delibertately withheld, and so I shall not give any spoilers here. The only thing I will say about this is that this person is not someone that a pantomime's target audience will know, this is for the adults - and only a certain percentage of them at that.
The panto features many superb lighting and SFX sequences, and the music sounding note-perfect in the pit under the solid direction of Peter England, [nice idea using the Borodin theme for King Rat's entrance motif!], with my favourite song being King Rat's 'Battle Of Good And Evil' with the rats running amok in the auditorium.
The Garrick's panto has much to admire and I would be lying if I were to say that I was not laughing heartily at many of the jokes and routines this evening, but for me at least, that certain je-ne-sais-quoi was not to be found.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 9.12.22
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 9.12.22
Saw it this afternoon. My 4 year old quite enjoyed it but I agree with the reviewer’s point that there were far too many one liners based around the lead characters name. It just became dull after a while. When most of the kids in the audience were under 7 I just didn’t think it was appropriate either, plus there are kids in the cast as well. More sequences based on slapstick and clever fx like the underwater set piece and far less of adults monologuing bawdy jokes to impress the adults in the audience next time please.
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