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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

Starved

Bread & Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 30th April 2019

★★★★★

“Black and Connaughton have fantastic chemistry and their conversations flow seamlessly”

Starved, a dark comedy written by and starring Michael Black and produced by Faded Ink Productions, explores the extremes that people are willing to go to when desperate. Faded Ink produce theatre that reflects working-class society and aims to represent communities and experiences that are not regularly shown in theatre and Starved is no exception.

Directed by Matt Strachan, Starved follows a young unnamed couple (Michael Black and Alana Connaughton) who are on the run for an initially unknown crime which forces them to squat in a bedsit in one of Hull’s roughest estates. They pass the time drinking, smoking and creating stories for the neighbours they can see out the window. They steal Rich Tea biscuits and Cup-a-Soup to survive, spending the little cash they do have on Glen’s Vodka.

Their relationship is highly toxic with conversations swinging from whispering sweet nothings to raging arguments in a matter of minutes. As the couple are slowly driven mad by their forced confinement, they start to consider whether it may just be easier to just face the consequences of their heinous actions.

The plot and script are strong, and a lot is packed into the short forty five minute running time. The couple discuss all manner of topics from their favourite childhood movies to the fictional rapper MC Devvo. The play however does end rather abruptly, and the plot could have perhaps benefitted from some expansion as it would have been interesting to delve further into the couple’s past and what led them to this squat.

The set is masterfully designed. The audience sits around a small rectangular stage which is enclosed by a web of rope to reflect the couple’s entangled entrapment. It is littered with rubbish, sleeping bags, cigarettes and a chair which creates a simple yet grotty environment. A rudimentary window is fashioned out of rope on one side and a large opening on another side acts as a doorway to the rest of the couple’s squatting complex. This helps open up the stage while simultaneously keeping the space confined.

There is little done with the lighting apart from at the play’s end where the set and actors are made overwhelming bright before a cut to black. The lighting is therefore very natural and keeps the play grounded in the harsh reality of this young couple. There are also no sound effects used in the play which keeps the audience’s focus on the yo-yoing conversations of the two squatters.

Black and Connaughton have fantastic chemistry and their conversations flow seamlessly. They joke, they argue, they kiss, and it is all thoroughly believable. Despite the short running time, their relationship is well explored, and the audience can sympathise with the cognitive tension between not wanting to be alone and staying in a toxic dynamic.

Starved is a powerfully intimate insight into a working-class couple’s struggle to survive in a system stacked against them and is well worth watching.

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:

Bread & Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 30th April 2019

★★★★★

“Black and Connaughton have fantastic chemistry and their conversations flow seamlessly”

Starved is a powerfully intimate insight into a working-class couple’s struggle to survive in a system stacked against them and is well worth watching.

Reviewed by Flora Doble

Starved

Bread & Roses Theatre until 11th May

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue: