Gala Theatre Durham – until Tuesday 31st December 2024
Reviewed by Sandra Little
4****
This pantomime version of a traditional tale played to a full house of excited children and adults on Saturday evening. The show began with a lively, energetic and colourful song and dance routine and the audience learned that the action takes place in Chester-le-Rue ( real name of this local town is Chester -le-Street). The key characters in this pantomime are Belle (Beth Crame), Madame Perplexe (Zoe Lambert) who is Belle’s eccentric inventor aunt, Jongleur (Jude Nelson) the local travelling minstrel and of course Gourmand (Kieron Michael) the show off that everyone loves to hate! The beast, who we meet later in the story, is played by Suryan Hadrick.
This panto loosely follows the traditional tale where, after several twists and turns, a beautiful and clever young girl finds herself locked in a castle with a very bad tempered beast. In the castle Belle also meets a talking clock called Madame Horloge (Sarah Bulmer) and a street light called Monsieur Brilliant (Adam Donaldson). As we all know Belle eventually falls in love with the beast and the spell is broken, allowing him to return to the handsome Prince Alphonse that he was before a wicked fairy cast a spell on him.
Using the story of Beauty and the Beast as a framework, this production manages to include most of the pantomime traditions that audiences expect at Christmas time. We had lots of the usual audience participation, corny jokes, water squirted at the audience, a slapstick routine, a magical castle, a villain for us all to hate, and of course a happy ever after ending. There was a wacky routine with larger than life forest animals, which appealed to the children in the audience, and the painting of Belle’s book stall proved to be as chaotic and messy as would be expected!
I felt that this pantomime lacked polish on occasions, lines were sometimes rushed and the impact was therefore lost. Costumes were also a little disappointing and did not have the wow factor we might expect from a panto. The beast’s costume in particular was unconvincing and didn’t give him the imposing sense of fear one would expect; however the audience was enthusiastic and keen to participate. Despite these minor issues, it is important to bear in mind that, although this is not the most elaborate or lavish pantomime you will ever see, the ticket price is much lower than some other pantos in the region and still represent excellent value for families.
To end on a positive note the scenery, lighting and props were very effective and added to the dramatic atmosphere of the story. The dancing from the ensemble in this production was absolutely first class and a joy to watch! Kieron Michael as Gourmand approached the role with energy and enthusiasm as did Jude Nelson as Jongleur, meanwhile Beth Crame as Belle was a convincing kind and clever “princess” and I’m sure families who came along to watch this offering from Gala Theatre went home happy and enjoyed the evening.