Indulgent comical and fun evening that will delight all ages
It’s not Christmas in Liverpool until Adam Keast is on a panto bill, and true to form he returns to the Everyman Christmas stage as Graham, apprentice to Ben Welch’s Dame Fairy Godmother (or DFG), who is making one last Blind-Date-esq love-match before hanging up her wand and heading to Benidorm for an apparently well-earned retirement, leaving the Fairy Godmothering to Graham full-time.
The lucky couple are the endearing Ellanora (Grace Venus) and Prince Charming (Thomas Fabian Parrish), an adorable pair of nerdy dreamers from completely different worlds; Ellanora is an artist, desperate for the love of her uncaring family, while Mummy’s boy Prince Charming has his privileged nose stuck firmly in the nearest comic book. We follow DFG and Graham as they do what they can to facilitate a meet-cute between the two so that they can fall in love and give everyone the happily-ever-after that their panto-going heart’s desire.
The dynamic between Wech and Keast is certainly there – campy quips abound, and their presence on stage commands attention. Wech is pretty much everything you could want from a dame; buxom, suggestive, and sporting notable scruff (not quite Conchita Worst, but it’ll do in a pinch!). Keast is old hat at this (and for good reason!), but that cheeky charm and ability to connect to the audience is as present as ever.
The boyish appeal of Parrish’s Prince Charming is undeniable, but Venus’ Ellanora exudes a lovable innocence, and her genuinely powerful rendition of Radiohead’s Creep was goose-pimple inducing. However, the show was stolen by Aminita Francis as the Queen of Liverpool; her vocal performances were captivating, and she commanded her scenes with a grace and assuredness that was nothing short of regal. With a less competent cast, it would have been easy for her to overshadow the show.
It took a bit of time for the story to get underway, and some of the jokes fell flat, but the quality of the performance more than made up for any of those shortcomings. The band is largely made of the multitalented cast members, under the musical direction of Tara Litvack, with the score arranged by Jamie Noar, providing fantastically performed music to please both children and adults alike. Plus, there was a keytar. Who isn’t a sucker for a keytar?
The set and costumes, both designed by Isla Shaw, were wonderfully creative; the production was framed against a pumpkin-carriage shaped construction, providing a neat place for the band and a handy (though slightly underused) second story for the action to take place on.
Throughout there is a strong sense of the expected panto elements, but there is also a welcoming strand of contemporary storytelling, and a breakaway from the usual ‘happily ever after’ for our protagonists. Baker and Barnes, and the rest of their clearly hard-working team, have done justice to the tradition of the Everyman’s Rock’n’Roll Panto. Kudos to first-time Rock’n’Roll panto writer Barnes for crafting a surprisingly subversive take on the classic Cinderella, with the core message that a relationship isn’t necessarily everything, and love comes in all shapes and sizes, and to Baker for his lively, well-thought-out direction.
I’m a horribly grumpy man. Miserable. Cantankerous. I have absolutely no festive spirit. I don’t have children – I don’t think I even know any children. I like indoors, where there is little to no chance of unexpected silliness. But sometimes I get the urge to indulge, and I’m glad that indulgence led me to the Everyman this year. The show is running until the 20th of January, so there’s plenty of time yet to add Cinderella to your list of festive treats. The venue is relatively intimate, and the cast manage to utilise the space offered to them quite effectively so if audience participation isn’t something that brings you joy, perhaps give Cinderella a miss – or make sure you opt for seats as far away from the isles or stage as possible.
REVIEWER: Dio Moore