Review: DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT, Gordon Craig Theatre
Photo credit: Martin from Origin8 Design Ltd
The Gordon Craig Theatre Stevenage production of Dick Whittington and his Cat starts as a very straightforward retelling of the familiar rags to riches story with some good musical interludes but generally an absence of comedy business in Act 1. The best running gag is when they ask the audience to name the cat, and they come up with “Rama lama lama ga dinga da dinga dong” and then require each character to recall and say the name with actions throughout the rest of the show. What’s more, Daisy Fitzgerald as said cat is outstanding. She is utterly charming, acrobatic and balletic in the sequence to the Cats music in guarding the safe. It is left to the magnificent Steven Serlin as King Rat to drive the narrative including a very good ‘Rat Trap’ with Fairy Bowbells (Nicola Bryan) to add the saxophone breaks. Surprisingly, Act 1 ends not with the usual “Turn again Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London” but with everyone boarding the Saucy Sal to set sail down the Thames to ‘YMCA’ and ‘In the Navy’ with Alice (Georgie Hales) and Dick (Matt Lapinskas) in bearded disguises.
The reason becomes clear when the second act explodes into action with an outstanding routine on deck of ‘Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat’ led by the Dame (Mark Siney), a wonderful version of ‘Park Life’ with four rats in the footlights, a completely bonkers recreation of the game Mousetrap on stage, an utterly hilarious interaction with two huge blow up rats, a projected underwater sequence with Dick swimming, the traditional ghost bench scene, and a delightful song sheet with three kids. Most of this business involves Aidan O ‘Neill as Idle Jack in his 11th consecutive season at the venue. His high energy and good humour adds so much to the show and it is clear why he is the returning star. When he kicks one of the large blow-up rats, it appears to deflate to create a wonderfully comic few minutes which looked unintended… if it was staged, they did a remarkable job in creating the sense of spontaneity. If it was unplanned, they will surely hope to recreate it during the rest of the run!
The headline name is Darren Day, himself a veteran of twenty pantomimes as Fitzwarren, very much modelled in the style of Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses. Whether it was because they are in middle of a very long run (show opened on 21 November and runs to 18 January) or simply an off day, he seemed a little hoarse and subdued, saving himself to add an Elvis impression in Act 2 in Can Vegas.
The Gordon Craig Theatre celebrates its fifty years since opening and many very big names have played pantomime there including Bradley Walsh, Barbara Windsor, Ian Lavender, and Kate O’Mara. The shows have been produced, written and directed by Chris Jordan since 2010 and for a small venue, it is a very good standard. The second half is one of the most joyous pantomime acts of the season and a delight to watch even if in this very long run, it is exhausting for the cast! Definitely worth catching before in closes mid-January.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne