Now that Little Britain Live has come and gone,
Oxford's hottest-ticket for fans of men in drag, audience participation and
predictable punchlines will be the annual Playhouse Pantomime. This time
around, they're serving up Cinderella, and in a traditional telling
with a plot that deviates very little from the more popular versions of the
story. The programme's statement by director Ian Talbot suggests the
ambition may have been to offer something more original, however, providing
"a new dimension to this classic tale", and he also notes that "the creative
team prefer to think of it as a musical show with a healthy dash of
pantomime".
The tone is much cooler and moodier than many previous Playhouse Pantos. A
few trees are scattered across the stage suggesting a forest clearing.
Additional sets representing the story's different locations are wheeled or
lowered into this space. The stage-craft was generally quite rough and began
to trespass on my goodwill. The writing was variable, with mid-rate musical
numbers and perfunctory episodes padding out some pure, audience-delighting
Panto moments.
The drag quotient was met with two Ugly Sisters who fluffed pretty much
every joke offered to them, and a principal boy with trousered legs and
facial hair. Denying us the possibilities of a grand Dame, the Queen was
played, in fact, by a woman, Lesley Nicol, who also took the role of
Cinders' Fairy Godmother. Ms. Nicol was, simply, the best thing about the
show. She managed to find scansion in the awkward couplets where all else
failed, regularly hit the right high key of camp, and ad-libbed smoothly
when roadblocked by the occasional hiccup.
Cinderella's rag-to-riches narrative can, of course, be bent to fit politics
both left and right of centre, and here I saw a conservative slant, and
delivered from a very parochial perspective. Later comments, around the
prince choosing to wed a commoner, and his promise to deliver tax cuts
rather than any meaningful social reform, highlighted this right-of-centre
subtext. What's more, the offered concept of "commonness" seemed to be
Dibley-bound, straight out of a country kitchen aga-saga fantasy land. This
panto is as solidly middle-class as its audience.
The Playhouse have had a rarely-rumbled run of Christmas successes, and it's
sad to see them in the ditch for the season. I hope for a return to form
next year, and might even set about being a very good boy all year round,
just so Santa could bring me my ideal: a Phillip Pullman penned Playhouse
Panto. How perfect that would be. BRENDON CONNELLY
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