Panto

Hansel and Gretel (Platform, Glasgow)

Magical and truly unpatronising update of the Grimm Brothers' classic

21 Dec 2011

If the Grimm Brothers had grown up in Easterhouse, their version of the cannibalistic horror story for kids, Hansel and Gretel, might have turned out slightly differently. In Platform’s magical, and truly unpatronising 2011 update, Gretel (Becki…

The Lost Sock Princess

Puppet Lab's festive show for under-sevens is infectious, interactive fun

19 Dec 2011

Ever wondered what happens to your socks when they disappear from the washing machine? Puppet Lab provides some highly persuasive answers to this conundrum in a big-hearted entertainment pitched at children under the age of seven. The show kicks off in…

Cinderella (Dundee Rep)

Witty script, excellent performances and bold lack of concern for tradition

12 Dec 2011

Writer Phil Porter has taken perhaps the best-loved of all festive tales, pulled it apart and reassembled it with a bold lack of concern for tradition. Yes, folks, this is Cinderella but not as we know it. For starters, this version is set on a…

Sleeping Beauty

King’s Theatre panto sends everyone home happy

9 Dec 2011

As much a part of the Glaswegian festive season as green and blue santa hats, the King’s Theatre panto looks like an institution defiant of change. So it is refreshing to find a new face, Arron Usher as Jimmy Jingles the Jester, going through the…

Cinderella (King's Theatre, Edinburgh)

Panto dream time Allan Stewart, Andy Gray, Grant Stott and Paul Elliot strike gold once again

8 Dec 2011

The great strength of the King’s panto, year upon year, is its ability to hook audiences of all ages and tastes. The script, co-written by Paul Elliott and everyone’s favourite dame, Allan Stewart, features great dollops of slapstick and toilet humour…

Rudolf

The Arches strike again with imaginative alt.panto starring Ross Allan and Rob Evans

7 Dec 2011

For the last couple of years, The Arches have offered an offbeat alternative to the traditional panto – and this year’s Rudolf is no exception. The classic reindeer tale (red nosed fella, rejected by society, wins out in the end by saving Christmas) is…

Jackie and the Beanstalk

Johnny McKnight's panto manages to entertain while challenging traditional gender roles

7 Dec 2011

According to panto dame Dott Von Trott, things have got so bad in the austerity-stricken pantosphere that ‘parents in Bridge of Allan have started firing their nannies and learning their own kids’ names’. Serious times indeed, and there’s something…

Beauty and the Beast

Stuart Paterson's 'children's play' is enjoyable but lacks the energy of true panto

6 Dec 2011

The basic story is so simple it’s mythic: girl meets beast, they fall in love, beast turns into boy. Stuart Paterson’s venerable adaptation is a tad more complicated. There are ugly sisters (as if a titular ugly character weren’t enough), played with…

Liam Rudden of the Brunton Theatre’s Aladdin - interview

The writer-director shares his insight into the panto-creating process

6 Dec 2011

What are the challenges of adapting such a well-known story? The biggest challenge is ensuring that the narrative is not lost in amongst all the routines, gags and songs. Finding the right routines and songs to advance the story is crucial. How does…

First word - Irene MacDougall interview

17 Dec 2009

First record you ever bought Led Zeppelin’s III. Last time you were chatted up Last week. First film you saw that really moved you Bambi. Last time you cried Last week when I went to see A Christmas Carol at Dundee Rep. First…

Ya Beauty and the Beast

17 Dec 2009

What’s that? You want a coherent plot? In a Christmas show? Get with the programme, granddad. Ya Beauty and the Beast is panto for the AHD generation. There’s a mysterious heatwave, a sombre principal girl who grows a beard and eventually turns into…

Pinocchio

17 Dec 2009

Perth Theatre eschews thigh slapping, portly gents in hoop skirts and cries of ‘it’s behind you’ for a family musical; to call Pinocchio a panto would result in a vastly elongated nose. The tricky thing with a non-traditional Christmas show is to…

Cinderella

9 Dec 2009

From the sumptuous decoration around the foyer (yes, they’ve even painted the pink elephants silver — don’t worry, it’s only temporary) to the gorgeous, delicate Baroque set, the Citz’ first original commissioned Christmas production in years announces…

Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates

4 Dec 2009

‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s panto tiiiime!’ The sense of excitement in the theatre is palpable long before the curtain rises. And no wonder: the dream team that brought us last year’s 3D thriller, Aladdin is about to spirit us off to…

Sinbad the Pantomime Featuring the Little Mermaid

4 Dec 2009

Brunton Theatre’s panto tradition is in great health with several years of packed-out runs behind it. The detailed local references make the show all the more bespoke to its location, and about as far from an off-the-shelf show as you could…

Pantomine in Scotland

19 Nov 2009

As the panto season gets underway a new exhibition celebrating Scotland’s other national theatre embarks on a nationwide tour. Allan Radcliffe investigates

Sleeping Beauty

11 Dec 2008

FESTIVE DELIGHT Sally (Julie Heatherill) is the bonniest lass in the whole of the Honest Toun, but her bitter and twisted auntie Grizzlebone (Lori McLean) is having none of her 18th birthday. Instead, she plans to impose a few more than 40 winks upon…

Beauty and the Beast

11 Dec 2008

FESTIVE FAIRYTALE Dundee Rep ensemble’s take on the ultimate love-triumphs-over-adversity fairytale is a bit of a mixed bag. The story takes a while to warm up, with an overlong preamble leaving you longing for the star to hurry up and make his…

The Snow Queen

11 Dec 2008

CHRISTMAS KIDS SHOW Playing to an audience of primary school kids, each clutching a bag of sweets, the cast of this Arches Christmas show were always going to struggle for attention, and the din of rustling throughout confirms this suspicion. But…

Babes in the Wood

11 Dec 2008

LUNCHTIME ENTERTAINMENT A panto couldn’t really call itself a panto without imparting a stream of unadulterated nonsense upon its audience, and Dave Anderson and David MacLennan’s Glaswegian retelling of Babes in the Wood does just that, albeit to…

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

11 Dec 2008

ADAPTATION If you’re in doubt about the Christian allegory lurking behind the Narnian fantasy of CS Lewis, just look at the treatment meted out to Daniel Williams as Aslan in this stage adaptation. Relinquishing power to Meg Fraser’s scarily…

Aladdin

11 Dec 2008

3D SPECTACLE Where would the King’s panto be without Allan Stewart? All pantos rely heavily on their dame, but Stewart as Widow Twankey carries this show like a tireless packhorse. Which isn’t to say that Grant Stott’s baddie isn’t as deliciously…

The Wizard of Oz

11 Dec 2008

FESTIVE SPECTACLE Adapting a much-loved film for the theatre is always tricky. At the Citz, led by Helen McAlpine giving gutsy, note-perfect Garland, they’ve opted for a live recreation of the experience of the 1939 movie. Whatever the format lacks…

Mother Bruce

11 Dec 2008

PANTO CLASSIC The Tron pays its annual visit to the Pantosphere, a magical dimension of convention-conscious panto characters, where this year Mother Bruce (wife of the long lost King Robert The …) can’t pay the rent on her council house. Luckily her…

Cinderella

11 Dec 2008

SEASONAL FAVOURITE Man-hungry Ugly Sisters making fart gags? Check. Drippingly wet Cinderella and Prince upstaged by every other member of cast? Check. Carriage pulled by Shetland ponies? Check. Gerard Kelly in capri pants? Check. Obligatory ‘haunted…