Panto review: Beauty and the Beast (and Barbie)
The Everyman's Christmas pantomime leans into the gags, jokes and slapstick humour, as it should.
There was a huge sense of excitement and anticipation in and around the newly revamped MacCurtain Street, as parents and children alike all hurriedly filed into a packed The Everyman Theatre one night this past weekend to take their seats in advance of this year’s pantomime production of “Beauty and the Beast”.
Inside the auditorium, the breakneck consumption of sweets and chocolate sent sugar levels skyrocketing amongst a giddy audience, but the enthusiastic gathering, eager for the action to begin, suddenly succumbed to a brief sweeping hush as the lights dimmed, the curtain was raised and the arrogant Prince William strode across the stage only to be magically transformed into a beast.
Directed by Catherine Mahon-Buckley and written by Karl Harpur, this new production of an old classic, is for the benefit of the hometown crowd, transferred to an unnamed little town somewhere in Cork, where the young and beautiful Belle (Marion Goggin) spends her time daydreaming of escaping her simple life and hoping to one day fall in love.
When Belle’s mother Peggy Twomey, played by a high-spirited Fionula Linehan, sets out on a much discussed trip to Youghal to buy some Barry’s Tea (what else!?), her over curiosity sees Belle ending up being held hostage in a dilapidated old castle, coincidentally ruled over by the grumpy beast. While there, she has to learn to look beyond her captor’s horrid appearance and find out who he really is, if she ever wants to escape and more importantly, if love is to have any chance of saving the day.
Filled with an array of colorful characters from talking candleholders to clever clocks, this updated version of the centuries-old tale sees the inclusion of Barbie (Irene Warren) in a prominent role and all told, this works quite well. Given that 2023 was the year of marketing behemoth “Barbenheimer”, Barbie fits seamlessly into the story, acting as a modern day relationship coach to the Beast, teaching him the kind of advice that is normally reserved for the dating columns of glossy magazines.
This aside there wasn’t a huge amount of radical changes to the story. There are all the usual sort of panto gags, jokes and slapstick humour scattered across the performance, some of which fall a little flat at times, but it’s of absolutely no concern, because where this show is at its best is when the crowd are asked to join in. Right at the moment where you think the narrative might be slipping from the grasp of the audience’s attention, they are immediately reengaged again with an “oh no she’s not” or an “he’s behind you”, and there were ample opportunities for both young and old to participate over the course of the evening.
And let’s face it, ultimately, it is the audience who are the real stars of the show. Some of the comments from the children during the performance were hilarious. When Belle was nervously preparing for her big date, a young boy sitting in the stalls told his mother “I hate princesses”. Later on, as Gaston (Michael Sands) was mid karate routine, cavorting about on stage like a cross between Johnny Bravo and Patrick Bateman, in the immediate silence that followed, another youngster shouted “I’d bate him Mommy”, much to the mirth of the adults within earshot.
One small gripe from a few diehard fans was that a couple of the more well known songs from the Disney version were omitted, but these were replaced by a selection of more modern numbers, which meant there was something for everyone to enjoy.
“Beauty and the Beast” is a barrel load of fun and seeing as how the panto is a staple of the Christmas period that shows no signs of lessening in popularity, there are, no doubt lots of people already looking forward to Little Red Riding Hood in 2024!
‘Beauty and the Beast’ runs until January 14 at The Everyman. More information on tickets and show times here.
Pádraig O’ Connor is a writer based in Cork City.
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