THE LIAR, THE BITCH AND THE WARDROBE
Union Theatre
★★★
“the overall effect is chaotic in a largely positive way”
There are few tasks in theatre more thankless than performing panto to a press-night crowd: a regiment of grey-faced curmudgeons who ration their laughs like wartime sugar and offer all the bounce-back of a soggy mince pie.
Even so, the rambunctious cast of The Liar, The Bitch & The Wardrobe, the adult seasonal panto at the Union Theatre, generate enough camp voltage to send C.S. Lewis spinning like a gigawatt turbine.
And spin he would. Devout Lewis would likely gasp at what writer Joshua Coley has done to his beloved tale, steeped as it is in Christian mythology. Here, heroes Peter (James Georgiou) and Edward (Joe Pieri) are aged up appropriately and reimagined not as brothers but as lovers, recast as the romantic leads of this messy but sweet adventure.
Familiar staples get similarly anarchic makeovers: Mr Tumnus becomes Mr Topless, while Aslan transforms into Arselan, a mythical lion sporting a BBL and the attitude to match. The cast lean into the absurdity with relish — Katie Ball’s multi-rolling is a particular delight, full of sharp physicality and crisp character work — but it’s Tom Duern who consistently walks away with scenes in his back pocket. As resident dame The Tight Bitch, he gurns, pouts, spars with the audience and belts his numbers with aplomb. It’s a performance that knows exactly what show it’s in and how far to push it, even when the crowd doesn’t always return the energy.
As a panto, it arrives armed with all the expected trimmings. There’s pop culture references, (some niche enough that only the terminally online would fully get) audience participation (this writer was hauled onstage for an excruciating dance — which I promise isn’t influencing the score…), and musical numbers that come thick and fast: Beyoncé riffs, Matilda nods, a splash of Defying Gravity, plus rewritten hits from Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and more. All four performers are capable singers, though the sound mix occasionally betrays them, with vocals swallowed by overly dominant backing tracks.
The material feels at its strongest when it toys with panto convention and then gleefully subverts it. Though a recurring issue is the script’s reluctance to trust its audience: some jokes are glib references rushed through rather than actual punchlines, while others are hammered a beat too long, over-explaining what would have landed better if left to breathe.
Supported by sharp sound design from Josh Mroczynski — whose recurring audio gags escalate beautifully — the cast make the most of what their creative team provides. Sasha Regan’s direction and choreography give the set pieces real lift, while Janet Huckle’s costumes chart the show’s camp excesses with wit and flair. Reuben Speed’s set offers a pleasingly ramshackle playground; at times the panto looks like a hodgepodge hastily stuck together, and the ladder used in one musical number seems borrowed from a decorator’s van, but that scrappiness quickly becomes part of its charm.
There are momentum stumbles, and moments where the script can’t quite keep up with the cast’s gusto, but the overall effect is chaotic in a largely positive way. And for all its rough-and-ready edges, it’s worth remembering that panto is a far slicker business than it pretends to be. Even at their most ramshackle, productions like this rely on tight cues, rapid character swaps and physical comedy that only works with real discipline. The Liar, The Bitch & The Wardrobe is a testament to that craft — both in its brightest moments and in the occasional weak spots that remind you how demanding the form truly is.
Even the dourest critic was laughing and cheering by the finale, which ends in a triumphant burst of queer joy — fitting for a panto that doesn’t so much open the closet door as kick it clean off its hinges.
THE LIAR, THE BITCH AND THE WARDROBE
Union Theatre
Reviewed on 4th December 2025
by Daniel Outis
Photography by Ben Bull
Most recent shows reviewed at this venue:
DISPOSABLE | ★★★★★ | November 2025
BLOODY MARY AND THE NINE DAY QUEEN | ★★★½ | October 2025
DEAD MOM PLAY | ★★★ | April 2025
DUDLEY ROAD | ★★ | January 2025
NOOK | ★★½ | August 2024
WET FEET | ★★★★ | June 2024
