SLEEPING BEAUTY. Adam Smith Theatre to 19 January.
Kirkcaldy
SLEEPING BEAUTY
by Lyndsay Maples, additional material by Alan McHugh
Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy To 12 January 2002
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
TICKETS 01592 412929
Review Timothy Ramsden 20 December 2001
Noisy, colourful Christmas swirl with some fine comic scenes.They don't shout in this panto, but given the high amplification levels they're never going to need to. Subtlety's hardly the point – the Russian setting allows highly coloured visuals, but the mixed-in American and Scottish accents seem strange. What you hear is what's been thrown in.
There's plenty of cuteness and when it comes to Princess Aurora's accident there's quite an atmospheric scene. Elsewhere, young audiences' interests are second-guessed with fairy Tatiana (aka Miss T, 'The Coolest Fairy Ever'). And maybe those Scottish accents are explained by Dame Jessie Huff exposing 'her' family ancestry, which just happens to include forebears attending whatever schools happen to be stuffing the Adam Smith to the rafters at the time.
The truth can no longer be delayed. The team behind this show have done a competent, conscientious job but there's one main reason for going – Alan McHugh's Dame. The Tsar's chief cook and bottlewasher she's supposed to be – chief stirrer would be more like it as McHugh skilfully plays the audience. He's a tall, lean figure working up to an ecstasy of surprise or flowering instantly with complacency. It's a performance to treasure.
Adam Moore is expertly sympathetic as Jessie's son, our guide through the action. On the side of evil, Jonathan Ball is a vacuous poseur as hunky Prince Nicholai with a heart not so bad as his controller, Shonagh Price's hiss-proof Molotov the Malevolent, a cocktail of grimaces and snarls.
Enjoyable panto, but among all its ingredients there's nothing like the dame.
Tatiana (Miss T): Shalonne Lee
Tsar Ivan: Graham Crammond
Princess Aurora: Evelyn Turner
Dame Jessie Huff: Alan McHugh
Jamie Huff: Adam Moore
Prince Nicholai: Jonathan Ball
Molotov the Malevolent: Shonagh Price
Dancers: Becky Wallace, Abigail Reeve, Lindsay Jameson
With: Laura Elder, Lynsey McDonald, Stephenie Howie, Eilidh MacIver, Amy Younger, Anna Slorach/Chloe Simson, Christy McLeasn, Emma Urquhart, Shona Campbell, Michelle Clarke, Chloe Donaldson
Director: Jonathan Stone
Designer: Nigel Hook
Costumes: Lyn Buys
Lighting: Andy Hotchkiss
Sound: Paul Robertson
Choreography: Val Jones
2002-01-18 00:20:07