Review: PETER PANTO AND THE INCREDIBLE STINKERBELL, Tron Theatre

This year's pantomime offering at the Tron Theatre is the reimagined 2013 penned Johnny McKnight show Peter Panto and the Incredible Stinkerbell- but this time with McKnight in the role of Stinkerbell.

Tinkerbell (Stink, to her friends) is a lovely little fairy apart from when she gets jealous. Her Best Friend is Peter Panto (Star Penders) and she's used to having him all to herself until Peter meets West End Wendy (Emma Mullen) and starts to spend more time with her. Ragin. 

It's a tight cast and the performers take on multiple roles with Katie Barnett and Mrs Darling-Darling and pirate Anita Wee-Wee whilst Robbie Jack is the dastardly Captain Hook and also Mr Darling-Darling.

A real shining star this year is Marc Mackinnon who is woefully underused as Nana the dog. There is a joke about him not having enough stage time but it truly is a shame as his deadpan expressions and quite frankly, adorable costume is something I'd loved to have seen more of. 

As you have come to expect from a Johnny McKnight show, the script is jam-packed with local jokes and pop culture references. Some of the theatre-specific gags may go over the little ones heads but don't worry, there's a fart joke coming along soon to even it out!

As always, Kenny Miller's design is beautiful- the costumes and staging look fantastic. The original songs by Ross Brown are fun and catchy and easy to pick up to join in. And you just know that the festive season truly hasn't properly kicked off until Johnny's closed the show with a bit of Mariah. 

The tight cast so clearly work brilliantly together and are having a ball doing it. Peter Panto and the Incredible Stinkerbell is an incredibly inclusive show that emphasises "down here at the Tron, love is love". Though the Peter Panto storyline does lose its way a bit amongst the chaos (but what panto doesn't?) there are far more important takeaways here about the importance of friendship, and love and that maybe growing up isn't actually quite so bad. 

For another year running the Tron and Johnny McKnight have delivered an incredibly special panto that has a whole lot of fun, a whole lot of heart and if it's the sort of thing you're into- a whole lot of farts.

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