London.
POTTED PANTO
By Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner & Richard Hurst.
4Stars****

The Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HH to 15 January 2017.
Sun, Tues, Thur & Fri 1pm & 4pm. Mat Sat 11am.
Runs 90 mins One interval.

TICKETS: 0330 333 4811.
www.nimaxtheatres.com
Review: William Russell 11 December.

Great for kids and the inner child
The versatile, although not exactly loveable, Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner spend a hectic hour and half, with a break for having ice creams for the kiddies and a stiff drink for their parents, demolishing pretty well every pantomime you have ever heard of. It is great fun as they race through the plots of Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Aladdin and A Christmas Carol, the odd one out. They play all the parts, transforming themselves in the blink of an eye from anything from Cinderella and her sisters – work that out – a singular beanstalk, a distinctly randy Prince Charming who seems to be in everything with great élan, energy and the odd risky joke.

All the ingredients are there – in front of you actually – and audience participation is obligatory. The audience old and young participated with delight. There are a couple of fleeting appearances from the couple’s helpers, Joanna Bool as a fairy godmother and Paul Aitchison as a seller of nuts, but for most of the time the stage belongs to Clarkson, the tall skinny one, and Turner, the small hairy one, and they make full use of it.

There is a breathtaking stunt to open act two when they performed the whole show in 90 seconds, 30 second and one second.

A good time is had by one and all.

Cast
Daniel Clarkson
Jefferson Turner
With
Paul Aitchison
Joanna Bool.

Director: Richard Hirst
Associate Director: Jon Brittain.
Set Designer: Simon Scullion.
Costume Designer: Nicky Bunch.
Lighting Designer: Tim Mascall.
Sound Designer: Tom Lishman.
Composer: Phil Innes.

2016-12-12 16:47:53