WICKED WITCHES: A POPULAR PANTO FOR ADULTS!

Pleasance Theatre

★★★★★

“an evening of uproarious fun, blasphemy and laughter”

Pantomime season has opened, we’re hurtling toward Christmas so there is no better way to get into the festive spirit than spending an evening at the Pleasance Theatre at this gloriously chaotic remix of Wicked and the Wizard of Oz.

You know you are in for a great evening as soon as you get to your table – the theatre is mostly laid out in cabaret style. The bar has been packed with characters from across the spectrum sending the sound levels sky high, while in the performance space, sparkly lights and a shimmering green fringe curtain get you in the mood for what’s to come.

Soon the green-skinned wicked witch (Gigi Zahir) bursts on to the stage bewailing her lot and spraying curses. Her name, it turns out, is Adele and her departed sister was the unfortunate ruler of Winkie Country killed by Dorothy a few years back. But – the clue is in the name – is she actually wicked or just misunderstood? There are going to be a lot of twists and turns before the end.

Soon Dor (Ro Suppa) and Tin 2.0 (Lew Ray) appear. Dorothy has turned non binary (a joke is made about non-binary, one syllable names) and the Tinman has refashioned into a woman. Dor has been swept out of Kansas (again) by a great wind and dumped down here in Oz-Lington (we get a lot of play on words and on the local setting). There is a great blizzard (get it?) coming to destroy everything and her mission, with Tin, is to save the area from it/him/her/them. That it actually was freezing cold outside, on press evening, somehow added to the fun.

Soon the Good Witch (Eleanor Burke in a magnificent frothy gown) and her brainless assistant, Scarecrow (Nick MacDuff) appear to spread happiness and, with a puppet lion attached to Scarecrow, our cast is complete.

Writer/director Shane ShayShay Konno has given us everything here: a fabulous set and costumes (creations of Isabella van Braeckel); great songs (pop parodies, of course); glorious characters; and lots and lots of audience involvement. The characters are not always what they seem – the good witch (Eleanor Burke) is making a lot of environmentally unfriendly bubbles in spreading joy. There are climate crisis references and diversity tolerance messages; skin tone, cosmetically enhanced boobs and breast removal scars are all present.

Finally, in what must have been a great coup for the cast and creative team, we have two celebrity appearances, albeit on a small drop-down screen, with Jeremy Corbyn (the wizard of Oz-Langton) and Ian McKellen (Toto the dog). Can anyone mimic an old dog, with his tongue hanging out, like Sir Ian?

Forget the tired innuendo of your Aladdins and Jack & the Beanstalks. This is a great drag romp and pantomime brought bang up to date. The cast were all superb, with the outstanding performances belonging to Zahir and Burke as the witches prancing about to audience boos and cheers.

It’s confession time. I don’t follow TikTok, listen to pop songs, or usually go to Christmas pantomimes. Worse, I have never seen Wicked. For cultural references this evening, I was a dinosaur. Most of the parody and jokes went straight over my head, and I failed at the audience singalongs and gesture dances. All of which, after a great evening in the company of massive talent and a fully engaged audience, made me think about how much I must be missing. If you are in the same boat, please make sure you find your way down the yellow brick (Caledonian) road to Oz-Lington for enlightenment and an evening of uproarious fun, blasphemy and laughter.