Rapunzel, The Theatre, Chipping Norton, review: an old-school, family-friendly, escapist treat
Your panto needs you. It may now be the wrong side of Christmas, but every attendance will help carry the day for those umpteen playhouses that have…
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, review: a wonderfully assured panto debut from Jason Donovan
Birmingham Hippodrome’s pantomime Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a show in which unbridled joy bursts from the stage. It begins with a fabulously over-the-top musical number…
Aladdin, review: too much end-of-the-pier innuendo
Having put the kibosh on the UK’s Christmas shows last year, the on-going pandemic now threatened the 2021 show at Scotland’s biggest pantomime venue, Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo….
Cinderella, Richmond Theatre, review: Anton Du Beke happily rolls with the chaos in his panto debut
With its camp badinage, heroes and heroines, glittery sparkle and hissable villains – dependably waspish Craig Revel Horwood being the prime example – Strictly Come Dancing resembles…
Pantoland, review: variety theatre that’s high on smut and low on variety
“You wonder why they let the children in,” says Julian Clary with characteristic piquant weariness during this year’s kitschy glitzy extravaganza after firing off yet another arrow…
Jack and the Beanstalk, Hackney Empire: badinage and heaving bosoms in a show that’s full of beans
This time last year the sky fell in on the British panto. At the start of last December, with tiers before Christmas, Hackney Empire, one of the…
48 best Christmas shows to book during winter 2021 in the UK — from theatre to films, plays to pantomimes
‘Tis the season to don your gladrags, pack some popcorn (or mini chocolate santas, perhaps) and skip off to a show – whether that be a theatrical…
Love the panto? Thanks to Covid rules, brace for a nightmare before Christmas
The big beasts, which have been taking booking galore – such as Moulin Rouge and Cabaret, clearly intended as long-runners – should be able to weather the…
Aladdin, Hammersmith, review: this tiresome Boris Johnson parody fails to fly
The Lyric’s annual pantomime is usually the curtain-raiser for the festive season – and, in retrospect, its cancellation last year was a portent of doom for theatreland’s…
The 50 best Christmas shows to book in 2021, from theatre to pantomimes
‘Tis the season to don your gladrags, pack some popcorn (or mini chocolate santas, perhaps) and skip off to a show – whether that be a theatrical…