Full of bounce, loveliness and nasty but nice helpings of beastliness, Doncaster’s Beauty And The Beast is terrific entertainment. Snappy, sharp, well written and beautifully performed, it offers every essential panto ingredient, each served up with a slick deliciousness that keeps one and all happy and uplifted every step of the way.
Sparkly cut-out sets and delightful painted backdrops add Christmas card glitter and fairy-book charm as we travel from the baguette-rich French village of Donny-le-Don, where Beauty and her family reside, into wolf-infested woods and up to that big, posh castle inhabited by the scary, hairy Beast. Splendid lighting, lightning and glitter-ball moments bring further magic while, driving the momentum throughout, music is performed from the circle, courtesy of percussionist Taneli Clarke, Sound Designer Eliyana Evans and MD/arranger Sonum Batra, embracing foot-tappers and body-twirlers from the likes of Little Mix, The Boo Radleys, Abba, the riot-predicting Kaiser Chiefs and Bruno Mars in marrying mood. As dancing villagers or as choreographed, scurrying black beetles, enthusiastic, local young dancers enhance the spectacle throughout with their talents as they enjoy performing with the professionals.
The storyline is minimal, the show revolving primarily around the excellent rapport and interaction of audience with the charming, thoroughly engaging onstage characters. Narrator as required is Fairy Nuff, played fluffy, funny, friendly and a bit dippy by Claire Storey with her shopper – a sort of Sue Pollard/Mrs Merton/diminutive Dame Edna blend. Her fairy-in-training in lilac is Jane Kelsall, subtly integrated into the tale as she performs non-stop BSL interpretation from start to finish. The sturdy, worthy, virtuous, courageous, book-reading Beauty who’s destined to fall for the beastly Beast is nicely played by Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos, while said Beast is played gruff and mean with mane of shaggy hair and long, clawed hands by Kofi Dennis – until he floats magically heavenwards in a blaze of light to transform into a handsome prince. Ahhh! sigh the audience with genuine delight.
Principally propelling the show, though, and getting kids and adults properly into it are, of course, the Dame, the Comic Sidekick and the Baddy. Particularly strong and pleasing, these are all played with wonderful warmth and thoroughly engaging rapport both onstage and off. Strutting his ostentatious stuff with assured flourish and highly entertaining twinkle is Max Gallagher as the scheming, selfish, narcissistic baddy, Emile, who wants Beauty for himself and will do anything, no matter how dastardly, to get her. Boo! As Beauty’s lean, lovely inventor brother Philippe Philoppe (son of Bel E. Philoppe) it’s Harry Gascoigne. Full of endless, cheery energy, sparkle and bounce (and possessor of a far-squirting water pistol) he keeps up the mood and involvement of the masses with natural, admirable skill. One of his inventions is the mind-activated air-freshener – which makes scents if you think about it. His wonderful onstage persona integrates beautifully with that of Ben Eagle as the deep-voiced, large-portioned Dame Cherie Trifle. Oui-oui! In outfits fit for a Dame (though not as elaborate in construction as many) she sports a cottage creation with chimney titfer and a proper cocktail dress complete with umbrellas while providing a real eyeful in her delightful Eiffel Tower number.
The two work really well together in slapstick, cake-making capers, pie-in-the-face japes, ghost-bench palavers and sing-along routines and are particularly impressive and hilarious when it comes to reckless runs at rapidly repeated recitations of astoundingly amusing amounts of alliterative anecdotal accounts, doing full justice to Neil Hurst’s script. Throw in an odd Farage and Truss, some onstage volunteers, several local references that extend even as far as Scunthorpe plus a lovely, happy ending – and Robert’s your uncle! You’ve a hit panto!
Eileen Caiger Gray
The show runs at CAST until the end of December.
