Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
Craig Fuller
The Yvonne Arnaud has a proud tradition of creating their annual pantomimes entirely in house, and this year’s production of Beauty and The Beast is no exception. It’s a tale as old as time – only true love can break the despicable curse which has been placed upon a handsome prince by an evil sorceress. Light vs dark, goodies vs baddies and vegan wolves vs pure evil! (Although come to think of it, maybe that last one is Guildford panto specific?)
The cast for this year’s pantomime is strong, Lucy Benjamin has returned to the Yvonne Arnaud stage, this time as Agatha the Evil Sorceress, and she makes an undoubtably dastardly villain. Benjamin clearly takes great enjoyment in the role and has the audience hissing and booing within seconds of her first entrance. Opposite her, Misha Malcolm plays Fairy Rose Red, who in true panto style delivers all her lines in rhyme, and of course ultimately triumphs over the evil Agatha.
Matt Pinches excels as the comic - Philipe Phalope and maintains an impressively humorous French accent throughout the show. He drops a mind-boggling number of cheese related puns, as well as leading the songsheet section and taking countless custard pies to the face during the 12 days of Christmas. Philipe Phalope’s mother is the indomitable Madame Fifi La Fou-Fou, who for last night’s performance was played by Tom Miller, who did an admirable job as the understudy for the indisposed Peter Gordon. Pinches and Miller were charming together, and had excellent chemistry, particularly when considering that Fou-Fou isn’t Miller’s usual role.
The show has all of the traditional conventions you can hope for in a panto – call and response is engaged from the top of the show, a good smattering of innuendo is peppered throughout the script, there is a suitably chaotic 12 days of Christmas routine, and plenty of song and dance numbers. The song choices this year range from Footloose, to Chappell Roan, to Michael Jackson, to Greenday – there is definitely something for everyone! The comedy of the script is well delivered by the cast, and there are some delightfully silly asides – such as the pack of vegan wolves who help Belle on her journey, and Philipe and Fou-Fou’s broken car.
The other primary cast include Clair Gleave who plays the perfect princess Belle, and Ricky Oakley as The Beast. Dylan Collymore is full of energy and accomplished dance moves as Belle’s younger brother Gustav, and the ensemble support ably throughout the performance, as villagers, servants and dancing mechanics!
Beauty and the Beast ticks all of the boxes for festive family fun, but feels like it is missing a bit of a spark that would elevate the production just that little bit higher. However there is lots to enjoy, and you are pretty much guaranteed to leave the theatre with the songs from the songsheet stuck in your head!
*** Three Stars
Reviewed by Sarah Brown
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