King's Head Theatre Archives - Page 13 of 51

The Nativity Panto

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd December 2019

★★★★

“It is a truly wonderful mash-up. Joyful and triumphant.”

‘Tis the season to be silly. That’s all you need to know really. I could end the review here, but my editor wouldn’t be too happy. He’d tear it up and tell me to start again. Which is exactly what Charles Court Opera have done with the original Christmas story. Everything you thought you knew about the Nativity is lying crumpled in the wastepaper bin. They call “The Nativity Panto” an ‘adaptation’ of the tale that sparked the festive season. I call it a demolotion. Or deconstruction maybe. And then they lost the blueprint. Undaunted, however, writer John Savournin and composer/lyricist David Eaton have picked up the pieces from their blurred memories and sharp imaginations to recreate a show that is inventive, hilarious, irreverent, magical, surreal and, to use Pythonesque parlance, just downright silly.

Joseph and Mary Christmas live in the North Pole. Joseph is a workaholic toymaker. All Mary wants for Christmas is a baby. A holy holly bush grants her wish and miraculously she is bulging and ready to drop; a fact that Joseph is ingenuously accepting of. Meanwhile the joy-sucking Jack Frost and his sidekick Snowflake threaten to spoil Christmas for everyone. From there the bizarre adventure begins, and the cast and audience have an absolute ball on the journey together. We rapidly stop trying to dodge the Christmas cracker jokes as innuendos crescendo and double-entendres thunder through the dialogue, and we let ourselves be swept along for the joyous ride. Rachel Szmukler’s gingerbread and candy set evolves with the action like clockwork, while Mia Wallden’s inventive and colourful costumes are the frosting on the cake.

Emily Cairns, Meriel Cunningham, Jennie Jacobs, Matthew Kellett and Catrine Kirkman all possess an energy and versatility that lifts the spirits and indelibly etches laughter lines onto even the most poker face that dares enter the auditorium. The beauty of pantomime is that it appeals to all ages with its mix of slapstick and adult humour. It is an artform that requires a high standard of stagecraft and talent, and this company have it by the sleighload. The five cast members deliver a blizzard of characters (you long to be a fly on the wall backstage to witness how they cope with the costume changes). None can be singled out as each performance is outstanding. Not that you can anyway – their flexibility with accents, expressions, impersonation and interpretation defies recognition as they dish up their feast of familiar faces. Characters we know and love but seen here in a completely different light. You never knew that Rudolph’s fear of flying stemmed from deep rooted self-image issues, did you? Or that the Three Kings could tango like there’s no tomorrow.

David Eaton’s music and lyrics feature original compositions and parodies of popular songs. The Spice Girls, A-ha, Barry Manilow and even David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, among others, provide the backing to Eaton’s humorously clever lyrics; interspersed with some quite beautiful song writing that never feels out of context. Eaton himself is on keyboards providing the musical accompaniment, with drummer Dave Jennings, who also adds some finely timed percussive sound effects. The eclecticism of the soundtrack is matched by the many references in the script, both biblical and contemporary, from King Herod to the Lion King. And pretty much everything in between. It is a truly wonderful mash-up. Joyful and triumphant.

Everything you thought you knew about the nativity is torn apart in this wondrous gift of a show, as the true origins are irreverently revealed. But I shall say no more. ‘Tis the season to be silly. That’s all you need to know really.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Bill Knight

The Nativity Panto

King’s Head Theatre until 11th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Vulvarine | ★★★★★ | June 2019

Margot, Dame, The Most Famous Ballerina In The World | ★★★ | July 2019

Mating In Captivity | ★★★★ | July 2019

Oddball | ★★★½ | July 2019

How We Begin | ★★★★ | August 2019

World’s End | ★★★★ | August 2019

Stripped | ★★★★ | September 2019

The Elixir Of Love | ★★★★★ | September 2019

Tickle | ★★★★ | October 2019

Don’t Frighten The Straights | ★★★ | November 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

Don’t Frighten the Straights

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd November 2019

★★★

“The atmosphere and delivery are both very warm and personal as if a friend is sharing their weekend revelry over a cup of tea”

Don’t Frighten the Straights! is a storytelling showcase performed by BBC comedy and drama producer Turan Ali. Ali has a repertoire of around 40 outrageous stories but in his newest production only recounts a select four (plus a bonus encore micro-story).

The audience hears all about a romp with a hunky maybe-Nazi in the Ukraine, the fulfilment of a late friend Andrew’s wishes to have his ashes scattered in the Kitchen Department of Edinburgh’s John Lewis, an eight-year battle of wits with a homophobic father-in-law and a frightened Police Constable from Yorkshire being sent to live with a gay couple for the weekend. Ali declares that his show aims to provide an “antidote to the new gay stereotypes” by sharing stories from real gay people and his own life.

Ali is a confident storyteller and his voice is very soothing. The atmosphere and delivery are both very warm and personal as if a friend is sharing their weekend revelry over a cup of tea. At times, however, this can mean that there is a lack of oomph and excitement and jokes consistently fail to land with their full potential. The four tales are not risqué enough to be shocking and dirtier turns are shrouded entirely in innuendo.

The show begins with an assertion that the lives of gay men “are not all like Ru Paul’s Drag Race or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” before the audience is then entertained with stories rife with stereotypes (and drag!) from his flamboyant friend Malcolm to Grindr sexcapades. He also proclaims that he is fed up of seeing LGBT+ stories in the media end in abject tragedy but none of his stories end particularly happily at all. It is thus not completely believable that there is a purpose to these stories other than to get a laugh.

There were some serious moments where Ali would have benefited from lingering such as when he notes that the Police Constable made sure to pack antiseptic wipes when staying with two homosexual men. Another shocking anecdote is Andrew’s doctor implying that his terminal cancer of the rectum was a punishment for his sexual activity.

These snippets provide a truly touching insight into the gay experience, but Ali is quick to move on or play such occurrences for laughs. Talking about Andrew is the most moving and gripping part of the performance and this is then followed by the production’s strongest story which demonstrates that Ali is capable of fusing serious and comedy in a highly successful way. More of this would be wonderfully elevating.

There is some brief audience participation in which a specifically male volunteer comes down and rips off Ali’s trousers to reveal a kilt that helps set Scottish scene of the last two stories. This and a sporran are the only props used. The lighting only changes significantly between stories where the stage goes completely black and snippets from Ruth Wallis’ song Queer Things play.

Don’t Frighten the Straights! is an amusing show but Ali is too concerned with not making the audience uncomfortable that he fails to spotlight the real stories of the gay community as he promises.

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd December 2019

★★★★

“It is a truly wonderful mash-up. Joyful and triumphant.”

Everything you thought you knew about the nativity is torn apart in this wondrous gift of a show, as the true origins are irreverently revealed. But I shall say no more. ‘Tis the season to be silly. That’s all you need to know really.

Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Bill Knight

The Nativity Panto

King’s Head Theatre until 11th January

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 3rd November 2019

★★★

“The atmosphere and delivery are both very warm and personal as if a friend is sharing their weekend revelry over a cup of tea”

Don’t Frighten the Straights! is a storytelling showcase performed by BBC comedy and drama producer Turan Ali. Ali has a repertoire of around 40 outrageous stories but in his newest production only recounts a select four (plus a bonus encore micro-story).

Don’t Frighten the Straights! is an amusing show but Ali is too concerned with not making the audience uncomfortable that he fails to spotlight the real stories of the gay community as he promises.

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Don’t Frighten the Straights

King’s Head Theatre until 4th November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: