This is a jolly rendition of Sleeping Beauty, which starts with the familiar story then, retaining the plot, largely leaves convention behind.
So it starts with Carabosse, feeling spurned for being excluded from the Princess’s naming ceremony, vengefully condemning Bella to prick her finger and die. But with a novel twist, it is Yorkshire’s underachieving Fairy Average who changes the curse to one hundred years of sleep and, after swapping out a cottage in the woods for a beach hut in Clacton (a cue for Farage jokes), the princess grows up to become a pleasantly bolshy teenager.
The Bridge House Theatre artistic director Luke Adamson has taken a fresh look at the machinations of the story, and you can expect a contemporary interpretation of the spinning wheel as well as a modish villain and other fun tweaks, as of course the dastardly Carabosse prevails, so Dame Dirty Gertie with her son, Willy Wetlettuce, and Fairy Nice go on a quest to rescue the sleeping Belle.
There is some comedy for all ages, and the kids will no doubt laugh at King Tootandcomein, the flatulent monarch of The Land Of Wishful-Thinking, even if they don’t twig that when it comes to parties, he’s always had impressive balls.
Arguably, there isn’t enough purely for young audiences and, at two hours, it is overstretching attention spans, but the pace doesn’t flag for a second, so there is always something going on.
Adamson has incorporated into the comic script a bunch of popular songs and a stack of panto traditions, including a slosh scene, topical gags, black light puppetry, call and response and a transformation scene—the latter delivered tongue firmly in cheek. Other laughs come with a nod to the scale of the venue and the doubling up of roles across the cast of four, plus a cameo from drag queen That Girl on video.
Recent graduate Georgina May Haley makes her professional debut as a quietly gentle Belle and French-accented Fairy Nice. This is a strong contrast to the deliciously wicked Carabosse of Stefani Ariza, who delivers a great turn with her puppet familiar, Sheryl the Crow (and I especially enjoyed hearing their “Right Hand Man” from Something Rotten).
Award-winning Brendan Matthew is a wonderful Dame, the loyal Gertie, outfitted in style by Amanda Beauchamp and endowed with a hilariously mobile bosom for the get fit scene where the audience is amiably coaxed into participation—and, like the slosh scene, few escape!
Adamson has apparently inexhaustible charm and energy playing Willy, the King, and Fairy Average, bestowing each with a very different personality and accent. He and Matthew work well as a as mother and son double-act propelling the action forward.
This is a peppy, comic and warm-hearted production of panto classic Sleeping Beauty—just the ticket for the festive season—so what more reason do you need to hop onto the Overground and get yourself to Bridge House Theatre?
Reviewer: Sandra Giorgetti