At Edinburgh Spotlight, we love all things theatre, but we really love the panto! It is a regular fixture in our annual calendar so we were delighted when we got to interview one of the stars of the show, Grant Stott before he took to his rehearsals for this year’s run.
Edinburgh Panto
Our preview got us in the mood, but nothing prepared me for the amount of laughs I experienced through this excellent production last night.
King’s panto stalwart Allan Stewart returned to the theatre this year to play Mrs Crusoe, whilst aforementioned Grant Stott plays the evil Pirate (Black Heart/Donald). Johnny Mac takes on the role of Robinson Crusoe and Jo Freer as the Maggie the Mermaid. Charlie Cairoli makes a welcome return to Edinburgh pantomime and Moyo Omoniyi plays Girl Friday.
Attending the evening performance on a Tuesday night, the majority of the audience were adults, ranging from young professionals to older couples (without grandchildren) confirming that this is popular with all of Edinburgh’s age groups. This didn’t take away from the childish humour and need for audience participation – everyone was joining in.
I’m not going to give any story lines away in this review, but I was pleasantly surprised this year that there was a firm plot that was easy to follow. Stewart is always the star of the show for me and made me laugh more this year than I’ve ever done in the past. Mrs Crusoe’s costumes got progressively more flamboyant; with one towards the end in a certain sketch reducing me to tears of laughter.
Black Heart the Pirate (Stott) delivered a fantastic performance as the baddie, with all the kids (and older members) hissing and booing him as he announced his evil plans. Playing opposite him was his wife he abandoned four years ago - Maggie the Mermaid (Freer) – who was amusing and entertaining in her own right, but especially funny when interacting with Black Heart like a squabbling married couple.
Robinson Crusoe (Johnny Mac) filled the role of the other main character well and was amusing throughout, and held his own alongside his onstage mother. They travelled to Mango Island to try to find the treasure and bring it back to Edinburgh (to pay for the trams). Black Heart the pirate is in close pursuit behind them, wanting the money for himself. Versions of familiar popsongs and predictable jokes about other topical stories filled the first part, but it’s the slap stick comedy and so-bad-they’re-good jokes that make it so humourous.
Towards the end of the first half, Girl Friday (Omoniyi) makes her stage debut on Mango Island with a song. I was absolutely blown away by the quality of her vocals, simply an outstanding performance from this stunningly beautiful girl.
The rest of the cast were all great in their roles, but for me the dancers were another highlight when they were allowed to shine in more complicated dance routines, demonstrating their agility and rhythm in the fantastic choregraphy. As always, the smaller members of the cast give the show the ‘cute’ factor and this year they did not disappoint. In one particular ‘monkey’ number with Mrs Crusoe, they had everyone laughing for all the right reasons.
There was a clever comical underwater scene involving fluorescent puppets and lighting, to give the effect of fish and other creatures in the deep dark sea. This scene was just another example of this spectacular production with amazing sets, costumes and music.
After the short interval (ice cream available) we returned for the second half on Mango Island. Of course the story culminated in a happy ending, it wouldn’t be panto without one. Just as you thought the pantomine was coming to a close, the funniest act of all was performed by the male principal cast members and had the whole theatre in absolute hysterics. You will never sing the Twelve Days of Christmas the same way again!
The finale ensemble song is uplifting and had everyone clapping in their seats, but as usual, the cast ended on their sing-a-long Status Quo encore which had every member of the audience standing up and joining in. A brilliant production, with excellent performances that I highly recommend you go and see as soon as you can.
The show runs from 28th November until 17th January 2010. Buy your ticket now , start your vocal warm ups of ‘he’s behind you’ and be prepared to hold your sides with laughter no matter what your age is.
Tags: Edinburgh, panto, recommended, review
this panto was fantastic really funny great stuff cant wait till next year’s one.