There is no law that says pantomimes should be performed solely over December and January. Nor is there any reason why the genre need be festive. The idea of feel-good, bonkers, escapist entertainment perhaps has special relevance during these troubled times and the concept of pairing one of our most renowned Shakespearian and film actors with one of the nation’s most popular stand-up comedians to deliver this was an inspired one. This show seemed to promise something a bit different from the usual Christmas fayre.
‘Mother Goose’ had many of the set-piece panto stalwarts, from the familiar ghost-in-the-forest routine, the slapstick cookery sketch and the good and bad fairies right down to an audience sing-along near the end. Unfortunately, there was little to balance this with much originality. The show was built around the personalities of the two main stars, with a more or less constant theme of what outrageous female costume Mr McKellen would come on stage wearing next. John Bishop was entertaining but essentially played himself whilst Ian McKellen was clearly having fun camping it up, without really acting at all. The rest of cast were essentially just supporting foils to McKellen and Bishop, most of whom formed the varied collection of animals that were Mother Goose’s sanctuary. Considering the stature of the main stars, the show adopted a very minimalist approach to set design with the various sets being (for the most part) essentially just a series of drop screens, a few props and occasional items of furniture.
Pantomime is of course not meant to be taken too seriously and in this regard, Mother Goose was full of many silly but often very funny jokes. Unfortunately, at least in the first act, the show also verged on being overtly political with a pig called Boris being used a number of times to make barbed jibes about a certain former Prime Minister and the current Home Secretary being used as a symbol for cruelty. Add to this a facetious attack on the monarchy with Camilla Parker-Bowles singing ‘Money, Money, Money' and a heavy dose of wokeness (with numerous politically-correct boxes being ticked) and the show at times seemed more like a left-wing political rant rather than escapist, absurd fun.
The second act whilst only about the half time length of the first had double the creativity, with a funny series of Mother Goose participating in various annual world events, which worked well and showed that the writer had applied some imagination to the story. Another scene set inside an aircraft was that little bit different and was both funny and engaging. The rest of the cast did give some amusing characterisations and in some of the more creative scenes, they got to shine but for the most of the show, there was not much for any of them to do, apart from singing the occasional song.
Whatever else may be said about ‘Mother Goose’, it must be stated that the audience appeared to love the show, laughing throughout and engaging as required, especially in reacting to any mention of ‘The energy companies’. How much of this was simply down to the sheer personality and stage presence of Sir Ian McKellen is hard to say whilst John Bishop certainly seemed at ease and in command of the audience. There were frequent references to Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare and Sir Ian can be truly be described as a national treasure whilst John Bishop certainly has a large fan base. The audience surely contained a lot of fans of both performers.
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 5.4.23
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