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.

WICKED WITCHES: A POPULAR PANTO FOR ADULTS!

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 20th November 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Ella Carmen Dale

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MISTERO BUFFO | ★★★★ | September 2025

THE LAST INCEL | ★★★ | May 2025

THE SIMPLE LIFE & DEATH | ★★★★★ | November 2024

16 POSTCARDS | ★★★ | October 2024

GIRLS REALLY LISTEN TO ME | ★★★★ | May 2024

GISELLE: REMIX | ★★★★★ | April 2024

WICKED WITCHES

★★★★

“full of turns and surprises”

Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s Mistero Buffo is a synthesis of satirical stories that transport you to a biblical time of miracles, resurrections and brutality. A highly controversial piece of theatre that was first adapted by Rhum + Clay in 2018 and returns to London to give voice to those who have been repressed, wronged and slaughtered in the name of religion, money and justice. This is an incredible one-man show that will blow your mind.

The show incorporates stories like The Birth of the Jongleur, The Slaughter of the Innocents, The Marriage at Canaan and The Resurrection of Lazarus. Interesting choices that balance between monologue-specific storytelling and more character heavy one, so the audience’s engagement never waivers. The narrator jumps in and out of these stories that have different backdrops, time periods and character, but all taking place during Jesus Christ’s life and all sharing the same element of hilarious blasphemy. Jesus has an American accent, Mary gets drunk and parties, angels threaten to use violence. And they reveal how truth has many faces, all of which can and will be manipulated.

Julian Spooner, who is the only cast member and also one of the creators of this adaptation, is a machine that never stops delivering. His attention to detail, the variety of the characters he brings to life, his impeccable, clowning-inspired physicality are only some aspects that make his performance remarkable. But best of all, the energy he brings onstage from the second he steps in the auditorium. He interacts effortlessly with the audience, makes you feel like he’s performing just for you, like he lets you in a world of endless possibilities. There’s enjoyment in his craft and this evident joy spreads like an invisible mist around the audience members.

Director Nicholas Pitt takes on a particularly challenging feat, managing to create a bold, yet playful retelling of Mistero Buffo. The collaboration between Pitt and Spooner is nothing short of a success. The pacing is also extraordinary, full of turns and surprises, with the right amount of moments that slow down and let you digest what you’ve seen before being taken back into the whirlwind of Spooner’s performance.

The stage remains bare, without any set, which is not an issue mainly because of the nature of Spooner’s constant movement. Lighting designer Geoff Hense, along with music and sound designer Jon Ouin, combine their strengths to provide some help in terms of scene changes, tone setting and transitions from one story to the next, with some impressively accurate, comedy-enhancing cues. Though, to be honest, Spooner’s acting is so to the point that the audience would be able to tell between all those changes anyway.

Though the comedy of the stories is very strong, the jokes landing, the characters hilarious and the modern touches effective, there is also an ominous side in Fo’s writing that is not quite present in this production. The Italian playwright was known for going against the established and showing his audience that the truth is more than what we’re being fed by those who are in power. These stories are a punch in the face of authority. This production leans a lot on the satire and humour, but it doesn’t use it for any relevant commentary of what’s happening in our day and time. The rebellious layer of what Fo really stood for remains somewhat buried.

For those who don’t normally appreciate one person shows, Mistero Buffo will make you reconsider.

WICKED WITCHES: A POPULAR PANTO FOR ADULTS!

Pleasance Theatre

★★★★★

“an evening of uproarious fun, blasphemy and laughter”

WICKED WITCHES: A POPULAR PANTO FOR ADULTS!

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 20th November 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Ella Carmen Dale

Previously reviewed at this venue:

WICKED WITCHES

WICKED WITCHES

WICKED WITCHES

MISTERO BUFFO

Pleasance Theatre

★★★★

“full of turns and surprises”

MISTERO BUFFO

Pleasance Theatre

Reviewed on 26th September 2025

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Luke Forsythe

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MISTERO BUFFO

MISTERO BUFFO

MISTERO BUFFO

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