YVONNE ARNAUD THEATRE, GUILDFORD – UNTIL SUNDAY 5 JANUARY 2025
REVIEWED BY REBECCA SCOTT
4****
It’s time to head to Nottingham and meet Robin Hood (Ricky Oakley), Maid Marion (Safia Bartley), and their cavalry sort to out the wicked Sheriff (Lucy Benjamin) in their most bonkers pantomime yet!
This panto takes us on a rip-roaring ride through Sherwood Forest, that delivers original songs, fantastic dancing, and A LOT of silliness. The panto has been cleverly directed by Joanna Read and is a far sight livelier than the story originally written by Howard Pyle.
The Sheriff is taxing everyone and stealing their money…and the people of Nottingham are not happy. Benjamin is a brilliant Sheriff! She engaged with the crowd fantastically, and really lapped up the boos! She had good comedic timing with her one liners, and dare I say it even likeable at times for a ‘baddie’.
Oakley and Bartley have been well cast, and I particularly enjoyed Marion being portrayed as feisty and confident, rather than weak and desperate for a hero to save her. The scenes when something supposedly goes wrong were very well done, and this silliness was elevated by Nanny Fanny Annie (Peter Gordon), Much (Matt Pinches) and Lil John (Jacob Kohli). They got the most laughs, and their engagement with the crowd was great, especially during the 12 Days of Christmas! Watching children jumping up and down, screaming for a water pistol soaking and asking for more chocolate just shows how family friendly this show is!
My only reservation is the panto lacked some of the nostalgic heckles of ‘he’s behind you’ and ‘oh no it’s not’, and when a moment/scene did warrant it, the audience either didn’t catch on, or an actor just moved onto their next lines before the audience could even engage. This didn’t happen all the time, but it was noticeable.
The show is filled with so many songs, for all ages, especially Swifties! It really elevated the show, and all the songs were crowd-pleasers. I would like to give a huge mention to the ensemble. They were incredible! As they often go unnoticed in a panto, but the team of 8 dancers were talented, charismatic, and I often found myself watching them more than the main characters. Bravo!
This panto is funny, fast paced, and will leave you feeling 2 feet taller!