Dick Whittington at the National Theatre Review

Source: National Theatre (@nationaltheatre) • Instagram photos and videos

Happy Christmas!

It's been a strange one for all of us for may reasons, but we do have one more festive outing to round out this bonkers year: that is the first time the National Theatre have staged a panto since 1983! Even Tier 3/4 hasn't been able to stop it's tracks, as it was filmed before the new restrictions came to London. This is their version of Dick Whittington - and my first time reviewing a proper family panto! Yes this is safe for kids (phew!). 

Written by Jude Christian and Cariad Lloyd,  the National re-worked the Lyric Hammersmith's production in 2018 for their Oliver space. 

And what you notice from just the Instagram feed is that this is not going to be your ordinary traditional panto. 

In fact, it's Panto On Acid!

This mainly is thanks to the costumes by Georgia Lowe. They are VERY bright, sometimes even florescent. From Bow Belle's pink and purple coiffure to Tom Cat's yellow fluffy coat. 

Source: National Theatre (@nationaltheatre) • Instagram photos and videos

On a traditional painted set, these would not work. But Lowe's set is just a dark stage with a few light up lines and wheel-on (or easily carried) props here and there. This is also a good time to mention it was done in the round and they made the most of it using as much space as they could both for the actors, and for a large audience to be sat socially distanced. Most of the props used are brightly coloured too, from rubber chickens to the fluffy pink seat cover of the toilet Queen Rat emerges from. 

In fact, now that I think about it, it was the opposite of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk did for their costumes and set. 

The key to a good panto though is in the writing, and how it can seem new without forced pop-culture references. 

Though you will get the jokes more if you live in London, or at least know it well enough, but this panto is perfect for those in South London in particular. I've found that as soon as you cross the river, the vibe is completely different. 

It's fresh and urban, exactly what you find on the South Bank. 

The music that the panto parodies as well doesn't feel dated and forced like what it can feel like in panto. In fact, it almost feels like a nightclub: Black Eyed Peas, Ariana Grande, The Killers' Mr Brightside (one of my favourite songs of all time). But then you have Fairy-tale of New York (or London in this case), and Dickie Beau's Sarah's Act 2 opener: A Modern Major General from Pirates of Pensanze re-fashioned to a review of 2020 as you've never heard it before. 

Source: National Theatre (@nationaltheatre) • Instagram photos and videos

Onto this cast, and the shining star for me is Melanie LaBarrie (Wicked), fresh off the cast off & Juliet. She plays Bow Belle's and gets the audience on side immediately with her magic. Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings was a charming cinnamon-roll Dick, playing well off his Tom Cat, played by Cleve September (Hamilton). 

Amy Booth-Steele (Heathers) was a fun Queen Rat but she didn't have as good lines as she perhaps should have. But speaking of lines, the best ones go to Dickie Beau as Sarah the Cook - plenty of political jokes and flirting with poor guys in the audience alike. 

This is a panto which I think truly does have something for virtually everyone. 

For the adults, all the innuendos and political jibes. 

For the older kids, the more modern music that fits with the vibe the panto is creating, and the feeling of dancing in a South London nightclub. 

For the young kids, fart jokes, magic and slime. 

Source: National Theatre (@nationaltheatre) • Instagram photos and videos

Welcome to the National Theatre folks. 

If you want something a bit more alternative for a panto, then this is a great choice for the family. It may be not what you're used to either from a panto, or from the National, but don't let that put you off. 

Yes not every joke will hit its mark, but that's like every other panto to be honest. 

Dick Whittington is available for free on the National Theatre's YouTube channel until tomorrow (Sunday 27th December) as part of The Shows Must Go On series. 

They seem to be doing a lot of family shows over the Christmas period, the next of which will be Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather. 

Watch Dick Whittington here: National Theatre: Dick Whittington - FULL SHOW | The Shows Must Go On - YouTube