Review: RUMPELSTILTSKIN, Park Theatre

The Charles Court Opera Company fetches up at the Park Theatre for their annual pantomime, inked into many a fan's kitchen calendar the moment it is announced. The production values (there's a gorgeous library evoking set by Alex Berry which would not have fitted into the back rooms of the King's Head or Rosemary Branch) have risen, but have they successfully migrated their winning formula of top quality singing, playground naughtiness and acerbic wit?

The answer is a somewhat qualified yes. Writer/Director, John Savournin, has gone for an Into The Woods inspired meta-tale, with Rumpelstilskin losing his name and his powers to grant wishes and off travelling through Storyland in pursuit of the magical Storyteller who can restore his name's mystery. En route, he meets Jack's cow and climbs a beanstalk, the three blind mice, an Irish pirate and Dick Whittington's cat - and many other familiar favourites.

Philip Lee is our questing goblin with a glint of malice still in his eye, but charm too, at his best singing the splendid "Goblin Funk" number. Emily Cairns, Tamoy Phipps and Lucy Whitney carousel through a dizzying array of costumes as we spiral through an array of other recognisable characters and maintain the excellent vocals that are the trademark of these pantos. David Eaton, another CCO stalwart, provides 12 original songs and a very 21st century take on "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor", but there's nothing that quite matches the impact of a distraught teddy bear singing Radiohead's "Creep" as in pantos past.

It's always tough to follow up a big hit (last year's Beowulf picked up the 2021 Offie for Best Panto) and this year's offering feels a little flat in comparison. The absence of a live band means that the music never quite catches fire and limits the opportunities for banter and ad libs - the double entendre count is down too. But most missed is a Dame, whose transgressive instincts bring the chaos, the licence to laugh when we shouldn't really and that delicious feeling that kids love of teetering on the edge of a fourth wall shattering intervention.

Arriving with no preconceptions, you'll get a serviceable pantomime with something for all ages, but if you're expecting another dazzling entry in the canon of CCO gems, like Rumpelstilskin himself, you'll learn that it isn't possible to spin gold all the time.

Rumpelstiltskin is at Park Theatre until 14 January

Photo Credit: Bill Knight

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