The Kings Head's Christmas offering is billed as a boutique pantomime and is the third consecutive year presented by Charles Court Opera with script, direction and starring (for around half the nights) John Savournin. This year's show is loosely based around the discovery of Tutankhamun burial chamber by Howard Carter and is firmly targeted at an adult audience .
The small intimate space of 110 seats is transformed by Sean Turner into the Egyptian tomb and we are whisked from 1922 back to King Tut's time. In many ways this production has its routes in the harlequinade that proceeded traditional Victorian pantomime with just five stock characters . Harlequin, here Howard Carter, loves Columbine, here called Evelyn and they are pursued by Pantaloon, here called Lord Conniving. The chaos is created by Clown; here as King Tut and the servant, here a talking camel!
