Anna Burnside reviews a production that can best be described as ‘vintage McKnight.’
Where to start with the ways Johnny McKnight has played fast and loose with the tale of two orphans and a gingerbread house? Hansel and Gretel are both girls. Gretel has a real mother, not a wicked stepmother, although Magic Merlina’s maternal instincts tend more towards lapdancing unwitting members of the audience than hands-on childcare.
There is a building made of confectionery, containing an oven, but it’s constructed from Battenburg, owned by the Sheriff of Stirling-Stella-Ham and mainly an excuse for some sweetie-based puns.
Then there is a Red Ridinghood-Sherrif of Nottingham mash-up in sparkly red boots, harking back to the Principle Boy roles of the 1970s. And a Big Bad Wolf in a Poundland Elvis jumpsuit.
McKnight - who writes, directs and wears the bodacious fatsuit of Magic Merlina - has been subeverting the pantomime genre in Stirling for 20 years. Many of the changes he instigated - gay romances, gender-blind casting, body positivity - are no longer seen as subversive.
For his anniversary year he has assembled a stellar cast and refreshed his 2016 script with 6-7, Labubu, Oasis and Ozempic gags. However, regular audience members will be relieved that the joke about the baker kneading a jobby is still there. Jenny Loof’s excellent 80s-tinged costumes and a hard-working chorus from the Macrobert Youth Theatre make this feel like a big, glossy production.
Helen McAlpine, as Hansel, is a natural Silly Billy, comfortable with adlibs, physical comedy and Robert Jack’s baddie actually pulling her leg.
Jack, last seen in Japanese denim in the Citz’ Small Acts of Love, is deliciously haughty in a green pompadour wig. It is all, as he regularly reminds the audience, down to his classical training.
Dani Heron looks tremendous in swishy shorts while milking a terrible mockney accent as LIttle Red. She even strangles her vowels while singing, which is impressive if not pleasing to the ears.
McKnight is in his glory as the dame and ringmaster, working an increasingly bonkers range of costumes, peeping through the fourth wall without sending it crashing down.
It’s vintage McKnight and bodes well for the next 20 years.
Weans in the Woods is at Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling until January 3, 2026. For further details, go to the theatre’s website.
Photos by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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