Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: If you thought pantomime season was over for another year, think again. Southwark Playhouse’s latest musical Bananaman, based on the DC Thompson comic strip that now resides in the Beano after life in the now-defunct stablemates Nutty and the Dandy, is firmly in the over-the-top, child-friendly silly comedy vein. The…
Category: Children’s/Family
Slava’s Snow Show, Royal Festival Hall, London ★★★★
The RFH traditional Christmas show is a magical piece of art
Dick Whittington, London Palladium ★★★★★
Be upstanding for Julian Clary’s masterful handling of Dick jokes
Pinocchio, National Theatre, London ★★★
While full of technical craft, this large-scale adaptation of the classic tale lacks heart
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★½
Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: It is a recurring thread in many modern pantomimes that the titular heroines, from Sleeping Beauty to Cinderella, are among the least served in terms of scripted character. That’s certainly the case with Aylesbury’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where the characters of Muddles, Dolly the Nurse…
The Railway Children, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★½
The touring production of the children’s classic has all the charm of a replacement bus service
Wind in the Willows, London Palladium ★★★
Reviewed for Musical Theatre Review: Appearing at last weekend’s benefit concert for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe introduced themselves as: “the chaps with two musicals in the West End at the moment – and it’s the only time in our lives when we’ll be able to say…
Getting Dressed, Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio, London ★★★★½
The sort of playtime that would make even the oldest and most cynical of grown-ups regress to a childhood of play
Aladdin, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★★
Some confusing references to EastEnders apart, this is a solidly engaging family pantomime
Peter Pan, National Theatre ★★★★★
A movingly hilarious production that combines the magical nature of Never Land and the transformative power of storytelling with the melancholia inherent in Barrie’s writing
The Wawel Dragon, The Scoop, London ★★½
The Scoop’s annual free family show is a disappointing anticlimax
The Secret Garden: Spring Version, Ambassadors Theatre, London ★★★★
This single-act production of the Broadway musical is highly entertaining
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