REVIEW: Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Richmond Theatre

Billed as the Greatest Panto on Earth the Richmond theatre pantomime may be overselling itself, but it is certainly a very good-looking show with a strong cast and fast-paced comedy and variety acts, but is it a pantomime at all? Of course, it has the love story of the principal boy and principal girl, it has a larger-than-life Dame and a nasty villain who we love to boo and plenty of traditional pantomime business. In fact, it has a long history as a pantomime starting in 1853 at the Haymarket in London and the 1939 Oldham Coliseum production featured travelling showmen and acrobats which finally became the two rival circuses in the 1980s. Of course, the live bears of the 1950s are long gone, and this Richmond production is based on The Palladium spectacle of 2019, and it sits very well on the beautiful Richmond stage. 

There may not be the space on the stage for the bigger stunts of the Palladium, but the show is well cast with plenty to catch the eye of both younger and older audience members. The animals are borrowed costumes from the Palladium with a giant Gorilla, dancing zebras, a pirouetting hippopotamus, giraffes, lions, a kangaroo, and an elephant reminding us of those days when circuses were full of animals in the last century. The variety acts are first class with an excellent juggler Gordon Marquez with a slick 3 and 5 clubs, balls and hats juggling act presented in a spectacular light show and Phil Hitchcock as Mysterioso, a wonderful sleight of hand magician with a lovely twist to the doves in a cage trick. Then Matt Baker, as Joey the clown, reminds us of his gymnastic background with unicycle, juggling and walking the tightrope to close Act 1. Indeed, he throws himself into every bit of business with great gusto and relish and creates a delightfully likeable character.

REVIEW: Noises Off at the Richmond Theatre

I have strong memories of a brilliantly funny night at the Savoy Theatre in 1982 with Paul Eddington, Michael Aldridge, and Patricia Routledge with Michael Frayn’s cleverly structured fast-paced comedy, Noises Off. The title hints at its theatricality referring to sounds heard off stage while performing and each of the three acts involved the same first act of old-fashioned sex comedy, Nothing On. The first act is the dress rehearsal before the tour in Weston Super-Mare, the second act is the same seen from behind the set on the tour in Ashton under Lyme and the third act is at the end of the tour in Stockton on Tees. In each Act we see mounting chaos as the cast’s offstage relationships fall apart and gradually overtake the on-stage performances. It is a very strong premise and a clever parody of those famous Ben Travers Aldwych Farces of the 1920s and 1930s and Ray Cooney comedies of the 1960s to 1980s.

Forty years on it feels a little different, a sort of cross between Fawlty Towers (which predates it), Acorn Antiques (the TV sitcom of mid-1980s) and The Play That Goes Wrong (from 2012) with characters and business lifted from each (although the latter two may have borrowed from this play) but somehow on this outing not as laugh out loud funny as any of them. Indeed, it is only really Act 2 which really shines with hardly any words from the backstage scenes (while the action on stage is taking place again) but plenty of brilliant physical business with flowers, an axe and a bottle of whisky and an astonishingly well-timed series of entrances and exits which seem to make sense! By the third act, all sense of reality has gone, and it is a bonkers scene of ad-libs, missed entrances and knock-about slapstick comedy.

REVIEW: Dracula at the Richmond Theatre

James Gaddas appears to have spent the pandemic lockdown writing and planning a tour based on one of those famous books that we have never read and about one of those characters that has become so stereotypical that we feel we know all about him. Yet Dracula’s image is perhaps more defined by the film treatments starring Bela Lugosi in 1931 and Christopher Lee from 1958 and a host of other adaptations than by a study of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. 

Gaddas’s adaption combines three interlinked stories around the character. First, he borrows heavily from the original novel. Secondly, he imagines that Bram Stoker’ himself stole the story from a real-life tale and changed the names and that this “real” story is recorded in various journals, letters and even a phonogram recording that he has acquired. Then thirdly he imagines he has been hired to voice a documentary for television that explores the background to the stories with “Ron”, the female producer, “Silence” the sound man and “Two meters” the Lighting man who travel together to the Bran castle in Romania. He weaves these stories together into a lecture come dramatisation of the search for Dracula and voices all the characters in the story.

Pocket Picks: Our top Pantomimes of 2021!

Pantomime is one of the greatest British festive traditions, bringing so many people to theatres; some for the first time and some as a yearly tradition. We look back at some of the pantomimes we've reviewed here at Pocket so far this year and pick out some of the highlights! But even though we're choosing our favourites, we must send our admiration to all those involved in theatre across the UK, whether in a panto or anything else. With closures happening all over due to the pandemic yet again, it has reminded us how privileged we are to get to experience the joy that is live theatre. So keep supporting your local venues, and go see a panto!

Sleeping Beauty at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley ★★★★★

"...this year we’ve got a couple of proper names in the always good value, Bonnie Langford and Lee Mead. Along with Myra Dubois as the wicked fairy, Lloyd Hollett as Muddles, the Court Jester, Claudillea Holloway as the princess and Joelle Moses as the Queen, this combination proves to be the best overall cast I can recall." 

Sleeping Beauty at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley is running until the 2nd January 2022. Click here to book tickets. 

Click here to read the full review

REVIEW: Cinderella at the Richmond Theatre

Strictly Come Dancing fans are spoilt for choice this Christmas with Craig Revel Horwood in Southampton’s pantomime, Shirley Ballas at the Tunbridge Wells’ pantomime and Anton Du Beke at Richmond. It has been a very good few months for Du Beke as he settled so well into the role of Strictly Judge and now makes his Pantomime debut as Buttons in Cinderella. Inevitably the production focuses on telling the familiar story through dance and I doubt whether you will see a finer, prettier, or more charming version of Cinderella this Christmas anywhere in the country.

His natural easy charm, twinkling eyes and smooth elegant moves easily win over the audience and when he stumbles on the occasional line it just adds to his appeal. He performs with effortless gentle ease so that even his careful slow exits generate delightful Ah’s and Oh’s from an admiring audience. When he engages with traditional pantomime business his natural style brings a freshness to the routines. As a result, the Alexa music clips routine which has become a staple of pantomime in recent years is beautifully executed with each clip given an elegant dance move as the Ugly Sisters feed him the cues. Then Buttons cheering up Cinders routine is also freshened up as it becomes a dance routine around “You to me are everything”. Of course, at the Ball Du Beke, gets to put on his top hat and tails for some fancy footwork. 

REVIEW: The Good Life at the Richmond Theatre

For the Richmond Theatre going audiences. The Good Life looks like a perfect night out. Based on the classic TV sitcom which ran from 1975 to 1978 over four seasons and set in nearby Surbiton with themes of self-sufficiency, work-life balance debates and relations with your neighbours could there be a better time to adapt this for the stage than now post-pandemic?

 

Jeremy Sams has adapted some of John Esmonde and Bob Larbey’s original scripts for the stage and directed the show (always I think a risk to adapt and direct yourself). He borrows from Episode 1 Plough your own Furrow when Tom decides on his fortieth birthday that he is missing “It” and with encouragement from his wife Barbara decides to give up work and become self-sufficient. The dinner party with his old boss Sir Andrew from Series 1 Episode 4 Pagan Rite, Margot’s attempts to be in the Sound of Music from Series 2 Episode Mutiny and the birth of piglets from Series 3 Episode 2 The Happy Event become core scenes in the play. Sams’ weaves this together into a seamless development of the Good’s relationship with their neighbours The Leadbetter's. It is cleverly staged in a design by Michael Taylor with rotating walls that smoothly switch us from the Good’s house to the Leadbetter’s house with plenty of seventies references to set the period, although perhaps the differentiation between the two rooms could be stronger. 

REVIEW: David Suchet – Poirot and more at the Richmond Theatre

David Suchet has been taking this retrospective show around the country for one-night visits ahead of a short London residency at the Harold Pinter for three weeks from 4th January 2022. It is a delightfully simple idea, a combination of a gentle chat about his career with his long-time friend journalist Geoffery Wansell combined with an extraordinarily insightful Master class on delivering Shakespeare words as he meant them to be said and how he created the character of Hercule Poirot. However, as he cheerfully and gratefully acknowledges it is his fame in the long-running TV film series about Agatha Christie’s Belgium detective that attracts his audience rather than his thirteen-year stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Although I am sure largely scripted the chat between Wansell and Suchet which takes up most of the first half is charmingly delivered, showing their friendship but allowing Suchet to tell his stories like a practiced professional! We hear about his school days, his time with the National Youth Theatre and at LAMDA and those first performances on stage. They all too briefly discuss his family background and his Grandmother who performed the sand dance on the Empire Music Hall circuit. It would have been good to hear a little more or seen more photos of his early days.

It's Behind You! Pocket Size Theatres Pantomime Preview 2021

The Pantomime website ITSBEHINDYOU.COM - The Magic of Pantomime diary lists around 250 professional pantomimes around the country this year, after last year pandemic disrupted year which shut the few Pantomimes that actually opened soon in their runs, so there is certain to be a show near you. This family Christmas treat will hopefully bounce back bigger and better than ever (Oh Yes it will) and give the families a much-needed, feel-good uplift around Christmas. How do you choose which to go to? The obvious choice is the one nearest to your family but if you are willing to travel a little further there are many excellent shows that will make the journey worthwhile. 

Look for past winners of the Pantomime Awards or well-known stars who you or your children like or choose the larger venues where the on-stage budgets are bigger and the shows more spectacular. Many of the smaller venues still produce great shows on a fraction of those budgets. There are so many to pick from but here are some of my personal favourites from around the country.

In Scotland, the King's Theatre in Edinburgh has Sleeping Beauty with the irrepressible Allan Stewart as Auntie May and the King's Theatre in Glasgow has Cinderella with Elaine C Smith (past winner of Best Fairy 2018). Both venues are past winners of Best Pantomime in 2019. These two shows revolve entirely around these two Scottish pantomime superstars.

REVIEW: Peter Pan at the Richmond Theatre

Robert Lindsey has waited until his sixty ninth year to make his Pantomime debut and celebrated his birthday at the Gala night performance of Peter Pan at the wonderful Richmond Theatre. It is a perfect combination of the glorious late Victorian theatre and a musical theatre legend revelling in the role of Captain Hook. Over the proscenium arch it says "to wake the soul by tender strokes of art” and with this production the whole family are sure to be stirred by the artful performance.

Dressed in long ringlets and a bandana, Lindsey looks more like Jack Sparrow than Dustin Hoffman in the film Hook but he brings a delightfully cool, Shakespearean, considered delivery with long slow asides into the wings and glances into the audience reacting to each heckle or comment. At every entrance the attention is drawn to him without speaking and he controls the action and pace of the scene. There is some good wordless business down stage left with the stage hand supplying a cup of tea and a sword.

REVIEW: Iolanthe at the Richmond Theatre

Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas are somewhat less frequently produced now then when I first encountered the whole repertoire in the 1960's and 1970's but occasionally a fresh production breathes new life into these most British of operas. Joseph Papp's Pirates of Penzance and Jonathan Miller's The Mikado successfully created exciting new versions of these best known titles. Sasha Regan's production which started at Union theatre and is currently on tour in U.K. takes the tale of the House of Lords and a group of fairies and seeks to reinvent the story. At a time of gender blind casting, she takes this to new extremes with an all male cast and sets this up with the pretext that they are schoolboys discovering the old script in an old theatre. In the beautiful grandeur of the Richmond Theatre which opened in 1899 ( just 17 years after the original Iolanthe opened) this pretext looks odd, rather cheap and the opening sequence of the cast entering through the auditorium with torches and discovering the libretto seemed overlong and laboured. It is never really clear what is gained by the all male cast and after a while the joke wears thin.

When we first meet the fairies in "Tripping Hither ,Tripping thither" the sight of a chorus of men dressed in female underwear tripping across the stage in a faux ballet is amusing and brings new meaning to their "fairy ring". It is intriguing that some of the Mark Smith choreography looks like partial sign language but it is not carried through. There are some original and creative ideas using step ladders, umbrellas and dressing room mirrors in the choreography but they just feel odd on the huge Richmond stage and it's glorious proscenium arch. The Victorian closet is the only major setting and cast members are frequently directed to come out of it.

REVIEW: Pressure at Richmond Theatre

David Haig has written and stars in this fascinating play about a little known critical role in the D-Day landing planning played by Group Captain James Stagg, a committed straight talking Scottish meteorologist who is called upon to lead an international team to predict the weather conditions in the channel for the landings. Set in the room he occupies constantly in the run up to the events in Southwick House on Portsdown Hill in Hampshire over the period from 2nd June to 6th June 1944, the play explains his predictions and the response from Allied Command.

It requires the audience to understand the different terminology and techniques in predicting the weather and the writing manages to make this interesting. On the one hand the American Krick uses historical charts over the last twenty one years, whereas Stagg uses his intimate experience of British weather patterns and a 3D view of conditions including the high level gulf streams. He says he is a scientist not a gambler and says amusingly " there is nothing predicable about British weather" and that a long range forecast is twenty four hours plus! It is a critical decision for General Eisenhower because he has to safely land 160,000 men and equipment on the Normandy beaches. As one character says there is so many tanks and equipment in Britain that "only the barrage balloons stop the country sinking"!

REVIEW: Wipers Times at the Richmond Theatre

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war, the bravery and heroism of the soldiers and the futility and stupidity of the Generals tactics in trench warfare have been told many times in fine plays and musicals such as RC Sheriff's "Journeys End", Joan Littlewood's "Oh what a lovely war" , Michael Murpugo's "War Horse" and Stephen Foulk's "Birdsong". All of them created revealing and emotional connections with the soldiers in the front line. Ian Hislop and Nick Newman have unearthed and tell the extraordinary true story of The Wipers Times produced by the soldiers on printing presses found near the front line in Ypres and occasionally written by the troops in the trenches .

While the play's appears to borrow elements from all the above plays in its settings, characters and its style , it does pay strong tribute to this remarkable tale and the unrecognised editors who put the paper together from 1916 to 1918 in Ypres and Amiens. The paper was made up of poems, stories , wry in-jokes and lampoons of the military hierarchy in a humorous tongue in cheek style that appealed to the troops and irritated some of the staff command. The style has continued in Hislop's own magazine Private Eye today.