Theatre Royal, York – Thursday 20th December 2012
*** Contains spoilers for those who’ve not seen it ***
It’s now a Christmas tradition in my family to go to see the pantomime at York Theatre Royal, written by Berwick Kaler, a local celebrity now through his role as the dame in the annual show, and directed by Kaler and Damian Cruden, and playing from mid-December to early February. This year the plot is loosely based around the tales of the man in green in Sherwood Forest, dubbed ‘Robin Hood and His Merry Mam’.
For those of you who haven’t been to the York panto, it mixes in expected elements such as cross-dressing, a song sheet, a slapstick section and much more with plenty of in-jokes such as Kaler’s wig, Barrass’ age and many local York-based jokes. It could be quiet alienating to those not familiar with the show but many people come back year on year so the jokes stick and there’s still plenty to enjoy for newcomers even if a lot of the in-jokes might go over their head. But a lot, such as jokes at wigs and such, can be enjoyed without any prior knowledge!
'Robin Hood and his Merry Mam' tells the story of Robin Hood, aiming to stop the villain of the piece from demolishing the village to build a set of wind turbines and... oh, the plot is secondary to the journey so there's no point me trying to remember what happened as it's not really essential to the enjoyment...
There have been quite a few changes for this year’s pantomime. The Musical Director has changed plus chief villain David Leonard was nowhere to be seen, replaced by Jonathan Race. This was the bit I feared most about the pantomime as Leonard is my favourite of the leads. However, I have to say, that Race played a villain as good as Leonard and though they are evil boots difficult to fill, his comedy timing, look and delivery was spot on and it is difficult for me to say who I preferred as the villain of the piece but hopefully there will be room for both in future performances. Race’s shining moment was in a duet with AJ Powell on Jedward and Vanilla Ice’s recent Queen mash-up, both delivered competently and funnily with some hilarious dancing.
Elsewhere Martin Barrass, as the dame’s son, had a smaller than usual part due to his work in the West End and it showed, but did allow some of the younger actors to truly shine in the piece. For his work Barrass was as reliable as ever with lots of great lines but felt underused for the first time in this panto. He did, however, get lots of good moments and lines – including a production-stopping ‘touching cloth’ joke – plus the annual take on the hidden doors and sliding furniture sketch.
Berwick Kaler was as funny as always and it’s amazing how he continues to do all the things he does on stage at his age. His ad-libs, or scripted asides, were as funny as always and was always up to do things. This panto more than previous ones was perhaps a little too self-congratulatory at the start with lots of talk of Barrass’ work in the West End and how Kaler is much loved – we know that’s the case, you don’t need to write it into the script – but was actually the strongest written panto for several years.
Suzy Cooper as Maid Marrion was as great as ever with her infectious laugh and great delivery, and Vincent Gray played the straight man well. AJ Powell was, villain aside, the standout of the leads with his camp persona truly fitting into the play and he had a much bigger part this year, getting involved with the slapstick and much more and did it all with gusto, and is surely a major contender to replace Martin Barrass when, or if, he decides to move on.
Sian Howard, doubling up this year as two roles, brought a sense of occasion to the panto as well, rounding off a strong lead cast complimented by a tight orchestra that kept the panto rolling and a distinct ensemble and chorus with Al Braatz as King Richard / Will Scarlet particularly standing out.
The production itself was a well-honed and funny as always, but does seem to be a step-up this year compared to the last couple which I’ve not enjoyed as much. Regular features such as the video screen seemed invigorated. Though the first appearance was a little low-key, but still demonstrating some great timing from the cast, it came back for a spot-on full-length parody of the Gangnam Style video (“It’s Panto Style”) which, even though it’s been spoofed to within an inch of its life this year, seemed fresh here and very funny, with local television presenter Harry Gration perhaps giving his best and funniest cameo yet.
The panto continued to give its own spin on popular songs aside from the South Korean tune. ‘Sport Up Your Life’, adapted from the similarly titled Spice Girls tune, was a delight as was ‘It’s Safe To Dance’ from the ‘Men In Hats’ classic. ‘Life’s A Happy Song’ was lifted straight from the Muppets into York, we got an energetic song from ‘Spamalot’ and ‘Old Age Rampage’ twisted the Sweet hit into something just as enjoyable. Sound wise the singing was more audible than it has been in previous years, complimented by a spot-on four-piece orchestra and some well choreographed dance pieces.
There was lots of well-timed slapstick from the cast with Race, Powell and Barrass particularly lapping these elements up, with lots of fun to be had with the obvious stunt doubles, one particularly obviously but another at the back and nicely put in as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it extra. The cast, in particular Kaler, demonstrated some great timing in bringing it all together.
Though the lack of a UV puppetry section was a shame, it was replaced by a full-on sword battle between Race and Gray which was, pardon the pun, a new string to the ensemble’s bow.
Overall ‘Robin Hood and his Merry Mam!’ was the strongest York panto in recent years which, even in an off year, is far, far better than what is put on else well. Jonathan Race stepped up to the challenge of replacing the excellent David Leonard and did the role justice and, whisper it, may have been slightly better. Berwick Kaler was as active on stage as ever and willing to go the extra mile for laughs with his ad-libs, costumes and on-stage acrobatics, if he can just perhaps tone down the ego a little. Martin Barrass was a little underused due to necessity but was as fun as ever and AJ Powell is turning into the next big panto star for York, complimented by other great leads.
The songs, VT film, slapstick and acrobatic sections were great, the full-length Gangnam Style parody hilarious. The plot was as random, wide-reaching and enjoyable as ever and the sets from Phil R Daniels and Charles Cusick Smith were as detailed and delightful as ever even if lacking in as many visual jokes as in previous years, but with touches such as the moon that moved across the backdrop at one point and the use of lighting to reflect the seasons being incredible. In fact, once more, what they pull off on stage in terms of look and effects surprises me each year.
Once more, it’s been a great panto from the team that manages to be both funny, technically well done and full of enjoyable songs, and the strongest it’s been for a while. I’m looking forward to next year’s pantomime already!
9/10
