Lorna Irvine reviews this year's Christmas show at the Citizens.
Dominic Hill, the Citz' Artistic Director, is not one to do things by half. His panto for this year is defiantly anti-traditional; there are no ‘sing-a-longs’ here and no shouts out of 'he's behind you' and a distinct lack of sweets.
In fact, with a gruesome narrative written by Rufus Norris in which an Ogress (Mark McDonnell) eats babies and skulls and chains litter the set, it is as though Edward Gorey took on the Brothers Grimm- decidedly Gothic, with foreboding in every corner.
When the heroine Beauty (played as feisty brat by Lucy Hollis) pricks her finger on a spinning wheel, she is doomed to sleep when she turns sixteen, unless awoken by a handsome prince (Owen Whitelaw) who is reluctant initially, saying girls smell, until he sees her. This is the only part of the story left alone- Norris makes the fairy godmother Fairy Goody (Citz favourite Kathryn Howden) a flatulent wifie with a bingo caller's bark. A blind slave (Alasdair Hankinson) is made to lie under a table and the Ogress, much to the horror of some of the younger kids, runs out through the audience onto the stage.
Much of the story is peppered with references to the suppression of female sexuality, such as the song advising Beauty to say no to hormonal temptations, until coming of age. Paddy Cunneen, fresh from Oran Mor's PPP, has composed a lovely, shivery score and the ensemble harmonise beautifully.
A sophisticated narrative is admirable, as is refusing to patronise, but it leaves some children non-plussed: still, extra points for making a pantomime with intelligence, cruel wit and enchanting music.
In the woods, it seems, everyone can hear you scream.
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