Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Jocasta Almgill, Jonny Bower, Tom Connor, Jessica Dives, Zita Frith, Sam Haywood, Ben Mabberly, Adam Keast, Nicky Swift, Francis Tucker.

There is no place like home; even if you have got used to the décor of another place, to come home, put on the fairy wings, let the wolf have the run of the back yard and immerse yourself into a great night of magical comedy, mayhem and misrule is to have your heart filled with joy.

For the last couple of years the Playhouse Theatre in Liverpool has played host to the much loved annual Rock ‘N’ Roll Panto and whilst it has been out of this world and a lot of fun, even the die-hard fan would admit that there was something missing, an element so large and welcoming that it would just give that extra lift to the proceedings. The Everyman Theatre and The Rock ‘N’ Panto is a marriage made in heaven and in Little Red Riding Hood, all those qualities that make it one of the most prestigious and eagerly awaited nights in the Liverpool calendar came out of hiding and captured the hearts and the laughter of all inside The Everyman.

Home is where the heart lies after all and in its true home, the creative and theatre team bought a much loved pantomime up to date and strayed so far from the path that the whole concept was a trick of the wolfish tail. Not only did the production go down a route that knocked socks of the established order but bared its teeth and waggled its ears modestly and with a smile that just melted the heart.

For Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton, they really must be considered the absolute pinnacle of Pantomime theatre writing. There is a not a great pun that Ms. Nixon will not use, there is not a sly double entendre that cannot be slipped in and have the adults laughing so hard and the children happy to see their parents in such good cheer.

Every great team of writers, and there is no doubting that Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton are amongst the best, needs an accomplice, the foil for the butt of their humour and returning once more to be that much loved set of foils are the delightful Adam Keast and Francis Tucker. No matter how many times you have seen the Rock ‘N’ Roll Panto, Mr. Keast and Mr. Tucker just instinctively understand that the reason behind the play is to get people laughing. The costumes, the utterly compelling rock music which was wonderfully arranged by Tayo Arinbode, the situation and the excellent cast, they are all there to make Liverpool laugh harder and longer than seeing Manchester United take a walloping against a team made up of snowmen and snowwomen.

With all the cast on top form, to stand out in a crowd is impossible but aside from Adam Keast and Francis Tucker in their double act routine as Woody and Betty Berry, much must be said of the returning Zita Frith as Blanche De Winter, Nicky Swift as Pippy Petal and Jonny Bower as the charismatic Wolferine who gave the audience their significant all to the cause.

Little Red Riding Hood is a true delight, a smash and grab affair on the funny bone that will leave audiences breathless and leave you looking at taking in the production on more than one outing. Superb music, the minds of Sarah A. Nixon and Mark Chatterton, a cast who give more than they could ever know and a production back where it belongs and sprinkling raucous, immense satisfaction from every pore.

Ian D. Hall