picture from everymanplayhouse.com

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 2nd 2010.

Cast: Jonny Bower, Adam Day Howard, Catherine Henderson, Adam Keast, David McGranaghan, Nicky Swift, Francis Tucker, Sarah Yezmar, Matthew Wycliffe.

To a lot of people in Liverpool, Christmas is nothing without the chance to visit the Everyman Theatre and attend their much talked about Rock and Roll Panto. This year’s production of Sleeping Beauty lived up to all that had been promised and added just a few sprinkles of fairy dust into the mix to deliver a stand out family night of good music, wonderful use of double entendres and wonderfully crafted tale of jealousy, love and water spraying gnomes.

With enough dramatic artistic licence available, Sleeping Beauty had all the elements that make these evenings so special for all ages. From the wide eyed child attending their first panto and sitting in wonder as the glitz and glamour descends upon them to the adult just wanting to become a child again for the evening, all would have been clapping, booing and hissing in time as each line was played out superbly.

Sarah Yezmar simply shone as heroine Princess Ruby and was a true delight, as was the two actors playing her parents. Adam Keast as both King Ashley and King Noddy and Francis Tucker as the Queen’s Scarlett and Norma played off each other with such style and grace that they stole the show many times over. Francis Tucker was outstanding as he battled incredible pain to play the part whilst on crutches.

The musicians were on top form on the night as they played hits as diverse as The Kinks classic You Really Got Me and the Righteous Brothers smash Unchained Melody which was sang beautifully by Matthew Wycliffe.

Whilst it might be true that nowhere in the world does this type of theatre half as well as the British, it still takes a special kind of story and theatre to bring all the elements that make the pantomime so well loved such a success.

Ian D. Hall