Darlington Hippodrome – until 31st December 2022
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
4****
Panto season is upon us once again (oh no it isn’t) and this year Darlington has the King of panto, Christopher Biggins, gracing the stage as the Dame of the show.
The show begins with Wendy (Sheri Lineham) returning to Neverland and discovering from Tinkerbell (Tegan Bannister) that Peter Pan (James Hameed) has lost his ability to fly. The reason Peter has lost his ability to fly is revealed to be the Pixie Dust waterfall drying up and the residents of Neverland have to work together to get it flowing again.
As well as Wendy and Tinkerbell, Peter is joined by Captain Hook (Steve Arnott) who claims to have turned over a new leaf and become a good guy, Smee (Rikki Jay) and Starkey (Peter Peverley) who both offer laughs and humour to the audience. Biggins is clearly the big name in this production, playing Mrs Smee, and the cheers he receives prove this.
Although billed as a family show some of the jokes are very adult and may leave children confused and the original songs slow down the pace of the show, however the Acromanics routine in the first half is entertaining for everyone. The sets are fantastic and show the Jolly Roger ship, Neverland and Peter Pans den. The highlight of the show is towards the end when 4 children from the audience are invited up on stage to help sing a version of I Am The Music Man with Biggins and each is given a different instrument to play.
An entertaining night out for the family with laughs and plenty of audience participation, this is not to be missed so get your tickets now.