If fast-paced frolics, flying horses and festive fun sound like your perfect night out at the theatre then a ticket to the New Theatre Royal’s latest pantomime will offer you all this and more.
Mini number two and I were guests of the Lincoln theatre for its opening night of its seasonal show on Friday, watching from the Royal Circle.
The romantic tale of the kind, mistreated girl meeting and marrying the prince was, of course, all there, but it is the baddies who take glorious centre stage in this production with ugly sisters Butox (played by the amusingly self-referential Kerry Katona) and Filler’s inner lives even being embodied on stage through Baby Butox and Baby Filler, further adding to the opportunities for the audience to gleefully boo their way through the production and to the visual feast with even more outlandish costumes.
Known for providing its audience with spectacular vocals, the show didn’t disappoint even though some of the cast were battling against the seasonal sore throats that are very prevalent at the moment and, despite such impediments, energy levels remained very high right through to the finale with the exceptionally spirited audience seemingly further infecting the cast with an extra dose of liveliness in the second half.
Photo: Caroline Keyworth
Having an award-winning comedian in the role of Buttons (Patrick Monahan) meant he was well equipped to deal with an audience very keen to interact with the Fairy Godfather (Jake Quickenden) and Wicked Stepmother (Arran Wilson) also up to the task, Wilson relishing the Wicked in his role’s name.
I particularly enjoyed the playfulness between the cast and Fairy Godfather’s rhyming couplets lines whereas my daughter’s favourite parts were the running jokes through the show, the chance to shout at the characters and, pointing at the stage in wonderment, the moment the horse took off to fly Cinderella’s carriage to the ball. There’s no question of whether she enjoyed it or not as the following night she jumped at the chance to fill a last minute space in her brother’s Cubs group to go and watch it all again – well, when you’ve got the dress, you can most definitely go to the ball!
Cinderella runs until Sunday, January 8th, 2023, at the Clasketgate venue. A relaxed performance will take place on Sunday, January 11th, at 6pm. The role of Fairy Godfather is played by Jake Quickenden until December 24th and by Ian Waite from December 26th to January 8th. To find out more or to book tickets call the Box Office on 01522 519999 or visit www.newtheatreroyallincoln.co.uk
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