Robin Hood at Durham Gala

 A wonderful family Pantomime

It’s Panto season again (oh yes it is) and true to form Durham Gala are putting on a wonderful traditional family show.  The in-house team have a long history of bringing the best of panto land to the good people of Durham and this year’s offering – The Adventures of Robin Hood, is another great production guaranteed to give kids and grown ups the best of starts to the festive period.

The story of Robin Hood, Maid Marion, the merry men and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham is well known and this panto remains true to the tale, albeit with a little added local fun from the Monks of Murton.

Jacob Anderton (Dark Angel, Coronation Street) is our titular hero, bedecked in his posh tights and with the dash and poise of Errol Flynn.  The beautiful Millie Banks (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium) is Maid Marion, King Richard’s daughter and target of the Sheriff’s affections.

Whilst tradition used to decree that the principal boy in a panto would be played by a girl, this show goes one better and posits Robin’s Merry Men as those of the fairer race; Kylie Ann Ford is Friar Tuck, Lauren Waine is Dennis of Dawdon and Lily Storey/Katie Thompson play Little John.  This presents many opportunities for some great gags, especially as Robin doesn’t seem to realise his Merry Men should be called Merry Women.

Of course, no panto could be complete without the bad guy and here Durham Gala excel yet again – since 2008 Neil Armstrong has been teasing the audience, chasing the heroes and welcoming the boos.  I’d offer that there is no one in the country as good as villain as Neil and this shows every time he takes to the stage.  Playing to both the children and the adults, you can’t help but love him as the evil Sheriff.

Rounding out the cast, and providing the madcap silliness are Gala stalwarts Paul Hartley as Will Scarlett and Paul Dunn as Dame Gertie Gossip the castle cook.  The 2 Pauls are wonderfully daft giving the kids all the traditional elements of a panto and ensuring the front 5 rows stay very much on their toes.

This is a great family friendly panto – the jokes and fun all land firmly with the younger members of the audience while the ribbing of local towns gives the adults a cheeky grin, the dancing and costumes are shiny and bold and the use of the whole theatre brings the show right into the laps of those watching. 

Aladdin Panto @ Durham Gala

Fabulous start to the festive season

It's funny how some traditions live long and strong, year after year. Take Panto season, which is here again (oh yes it is); the usually demure and sedate theatre going audiences are suddenly turned into and accompanied by screaming kids sporting all manner of flashing appendages; the knowing whispers when an actor misses a line are swapped for roars of laugher both on & off the stage and the 4th wall is torn down and ceremoniously trampled on as young and old are encouraged to great the cast with cheers, boos, chants and giggles.

This years offering at Durham Gala is yet again a riotous mix of song & dance which will have everyone in tears of laughter (tho not always for the same reason). Clearly aimed at the kids, the script stays clean and simple, the use of musical numbers fresh and engaging while the visual gags, especially the laundry scene, will never fail to get everyone laughing (or cowering if you’re in the front 6 rows).  Directed by the brilliant (in both talent and name) Gareth Tudor Price, this is another sure-fire success his the every growing list of box office smashes.

Opening with my favourite panto villain, Neil Armstrong, as Abanazar, ensures that the audience are left in no doubt that this is as traditional panto as ever there was. Looking very much like an evil Harold Meeker (from Rentaghost) he elicits all the boos from the kids while playfully abusing their parents. Neil has been playing this type of role for many years and has honed it to such a fine art that I hazard to suggest he probably gets booed throughout the year, not just in panto season. The other Gala stalwart, Paul Hartley, is back, this time as Wishee Washee, and like Neil, brings his perfected panto craft that the kids lap up in spades. The perfect foil for the evil Abanazar, Paul’s Wishee is daftness personified.

Adding to the well known panto cast are some ‘newbies’ – fresh from their run in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Durham, Chris Connel, Viktoria Kay and Robert Hudson make their Panto bows. Chris, as the panto dame, Widow Twankey, had a choice to make, either play it totally camp (a la Christopher Biggins) or bring a more butch element to the role – Chris has gone for the latter and it works perfectly, he never tries to disguise his wonderful northern accent and coupled with his imposing figure in a frock he makes for a quite intimidating dame; if he picks you as his ‘boyfriend’ then you’d better say yes and quick. Viktoria plays the Emperor’s royal policeman and is a fabulous comedic sidekick. Sporting a silent movie style tash which has a life of its own, she is reminiscent of the Keystone Cop Sergeant, full of energy and a huge hit with the kids. Finally Robert, as the Emperor, has the regal poise and authority needed to demand obedience, but underneath there is clearly a sense of fun just waiting for the chance to break free - their homage to Wilson, Keppel and Betty (Google them, you'll know who I mean) had me literally gasping for breath.

Of course, Aladdin wouldn’t be Aladdin without the lead and his Princess. Matt McGoldrick is a very youthful ‘street urchin turned prince’, a friendly and engaging guy who draws the young kids into the land of make believe and keeps them rooting for him throughout. Christina Andrew is every bit the princess; beautiful, kindly and there is clearly some great chemistry between the two.  Ably supported by very talented backing dancers including the uber-lithe Andrew Wragg and Antony Edwards, and the dynamic duo of Jade Bailey and Sophie Taylor, the whole stage is filled with light, colour, movement and fun – a perfect and heady recipe for the best possible start to the festive season.

The Gala pride themselves on providing a wonderful family panto and have rightfully built a reputation of being one of the very best in the north – over 28,000 came to see last year’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if that number is matched again this year. So, if laughter is the best medicine, then go and get your fix and remain healthy all winter.

Sleeping Beauty Panto @ Durham Gala

They say that fortune favours the brave, well, after watching this festive feast, Fortune,  Steve Fortune that is, favoured us all. 

The story of Sleeping Beauty is well known as one of the more traditional panto favourites - plenty of scope for beautiful princesses, wicked wizards, helpful fairies and of course a panto dame.  In an age where kids' imaginations are grabbed by Harry Potter, Transformers and a whole host of TV wizardry, I feared that the annual stage-set story telling would fall between the CGI cracks but my fears were completely misplaced.  What the production team at Durham Gala have done is to bring the story and it's portrayal right up to date. The set designs are vibrant and deep, the choreography is very 'street' and the cast are very much in tune with their audience.   I won't spoil the very special effects save to say they drew gasps from the audience,young and old, but this is very much a panto for the modern day audience.

Of course, panto wouldn't be panto without the usual audience participation - "Oh yes it would" - and the Gala at Durham is possibly the best venue in the north east for bringing audience and performers together. The proximity of the seats to the stage, the fact that the orchestra is sat up high to the side and the perfect sight lines mean every person was close enough to see, hear and on many occasions feel the action (they could even mark the first 8 rows as a designated 'splash zone').  The cast, in particular Dame Miriam and Silly Billy use this perfectly, and keep the feeling of inclusion and participation going right to the end.

Talking of Dame Miriam, Steve Fortune is simply fantastic - he knows how to deliver not just double entendres but triple and quadruple ones - the kids love his wacky outfits, the mum's envy his 'womanly' strength and the men just marvel at how he manages to dance in 'those' heels. Played with much more burlesque than camp, Steve and his/her son Silly Billy (played to big kid perfection by Paul Hartley) are the perfect counterfoil to the evil wickedness of Wizard Scorchard (Neil Armstrong) and his minions.

Pantos are all about family fun and this show delivers it in buckets, literally buckets.  If you haven't got your tickets yet, get them now and treat yourself to a fab night out - you know you want to......Oh yes you do !!