Pantomime at Stratford East!

Pantomime, traditionally, is the back bone of the theatre being the main income earner by drawing in crowds for festive entertainment. This would then finance the rest of the year which may not have seen so many people through the doors so it was terribly important to have it. Lots of people are quite snobby about pantomime though and miss the point that it’s meant to be fun, something to be joined in with and ultimately not taken seriously! Well, I’m not one of them, I’m a big panto fan and after last year’s show, also at Stratford East and Florence’s first exposure to the genre, so is my daughter! At not quite two last year she threw herself wholeheartedly into the show and learned to give the thumbs down for the very first time! She remembered ‘Cinderella’ and how much fun we had so was looking forward to this year’s offering, Jack and the Beanstalk.

Last year was quite honestly the best pantomime I had ever seen, so this year had a very high bar set for it. If I’m honest, I didn’t expect it to match up; it would be unreasonable for me to have thought it could really. We still laugh about ‘Cinderella’ and how good it was. A non traditional re-telling of the story, the songs, the fairy godmother, the two ugly sisters! It was just really, really excellent and probably, surely, that would be a one-off? Pantomimes in lots of theatres have a ‘star’ at the helm and that’s the draw, they’re fun and enjoyable but not usually terribly clever or something to be remembered? To go to and be enjoyed at the time for sure but like I said, panto is just for a bit of fun, not expected to be an excellent piece of theatre but last year at Stratford East just happened to be both which is extremely rare…

This year’s display though, turned out to be on a bit of a par with it actually – aren’t we lucky! I think it must just be Stratford East you know! They simply must have an extremely high standard because Jack and the Beanstalk is utterly, utterly brilliant and we loved every minute of it! It’s funny, entertaining, a traditional story with a modern twist, has everything you expect and bundles more and the actors! The actors are superb! Not a ‘star’ in sight but plenty of steadily working actors who are just magnificent! Frankly I’d rather have that than someone who was just thin enough, young enough and sexy enough to once be given a major role on Hollyoaks or someone who can vaguely sing karaoke so embarrassed themselves nationally by trying out for the insipid X-Factor gaining them notoriety. Sorry, does that sound a bit snobby, I don’t care if it does actually! The likes of Michael Bertenshaw who has had roles in some of my favourite things on television including ‘The Worst Christmas of my Life’ is a brilliant choice for the dame – so funny. I don’t care that he’s not worked behind the bar of the Rovers Return or headed up a dreary family in East Enders, perhaps he should! It might be a darn sight better! He has played supporting roles in the soaps and other things on television and is probably a far finer actor than most of them – I mean how the actor who plays Ian Beale remains on our screens daily is beyond me?! But that’s just my opinion of course…

I don’t mean to just single out the one actor there, the cast is very fine from top to bottom and particularly impressive is the fact that the part of ‘Harpo’ is currently being played by an understudy yet I can’t imagine anyone doing it better than Allyson Ava-Brown who was also brilliant in ‘Dangerous Lady’ recently. That woman has some lungs on her for sure! She, incidentally, did try out for one of the television singing contests and didn’t get through! Go figure! The people (on the whole – obviously they let a few through for the finals otherwise it would collapse) who can actually sing don’t do well on these shows. Looks like Allyson Ava-Brown is doing us a far better service by being on our stage than in some singing contest!

So, rant over and back to the topic at hand! The pantomime is awesome and the only thing I can say is go! Go, GO, GO! Theatre is such a wonderful thing to do with your children and what better show could you see as a family than the pantomime. There are lots of impressive things about this show, the costumes are very inventive (The ogre’s creations and characters are great), the bean stalk itself is done exceptionally well and the baddies vehicle is great fun! Perhaps the most praise should be given for the puppetry though but I’m going to leave that as a bit of a surprise – you’ll be impressed! My little one was a little bit scared in places but I do think that’s all part of it and it’s not given her nightmares or anything – well, being pantomime there’s a good ending of course so that’s her lasting memory. Take your children and boo and hiss as you laugh and dance to the wonderfully catchy songs as we did! We had a ball!

Tickets are very reasonable at this theatre also and I quite honestly think there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The theatre is beautiful, a truly magnificent building and perhaps a bit of a surprise once you’re inside. From the street it doesn’t look much but is one of the prettier ones inside. I love the pictures on the walls from their show history, it’s a little bit like a mini museum! Drinks are inexpensive, the food looks good and the people working are helpful and attentive. The whole experience is pretty friendly and impressive and with a show as good as this one you’re laughing really! Go on, get into the Christmas spirit and book yourselves some tickets before it’s too late and they’re all sold out!