Review: SLEEPING BEAUTY, Nottingham Playhouse
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
This year’s pantomime at the lovely Nottingham Playhouse is Sleeping Beauty. When bad fairy Maleficent gets jealous that she hasn’t been invited to Princess Rose’s first birthday party, she casts a curse – before Rose’s 18th birthday, she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. It’s then down to Fairy Lights, Nelly the Nanny, The King and Teddy the Bear to come together to keep the Princess safe. Throw in loads of songs, colourful sets and costumes and all the usual panto routines, this is a wonderful Christmas treat for all the family.
Adam Penford, Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director, writes and directs the pantomime. Penford clearly loves pantomime but also loves telling stories. He gets creative with the structure of his Sleeping Beauty – we get most of the story beats we expect, but with a few fun twists added in. The plot comes first for Penford, with the traditional panto business added in, rather than a story being shoehorned around lots of routines. As director, he leads his small cast in creating characters that the audience will immediately fall in love with, whilst being somewhat unique from traditional versions of the characters that we may see in other pantomimes.
John Elkington returns to Nottingham Playhouse – this year, he plays Nelly the Nanny. He is full of warmth and feels like a mother to the audience. He leads musical numbers well and has a series of fabulous costumes.
Danny Hendrix’s Teddy the Bear sort of takes the place of a Muddles type character – the audience’s best friend. The audience, particularly the kids, love him and he has a lovely rapport with Princess Rose. We really feel for him as he starts to think the Princess might have no need for her toys as she grows up. TJ Lloyd is fun as The King, particularly in a scene when he’s flirting with Maleficent. The reunion scene between him and the Princess is also lovely.
Yazmin King makes her pantomime debut as Princess Rose and she is excellent. She commands as a strong and slightly feisty princess who falls in love, but on her own terms – and she falls in love over time rather than at first sight. Seb Harwood is very funny as The Prince. He is wonderfully over the top and it is nice to see him included in some of the panto business, such as the baking scene (which we definitely wanted to be far messier than it was!). They both sing wonderfully together.
The principal cast is rounded out with Charis Alexandra, also making her pantomime debut as Fairy Lights, and UK Pantomime Award nominee Lara Sas as Maleficent. Alexandra just gets panto as a genre and knows how to get the audience interacting. It is great to see her get to play most scenes with other members of the cast rather than just speaking in rhyming couplets in solo scenes. It is clear to see why Sas is award-nominated for a previous pantomime appearance. She clearly loves being wicked and the audience loves to boo her. Both Alexandra and Sas blow the roof off with some powerful vocals.
The production looks stunning, thanks to Cleo Pettitt’s design. Pettitt has also been nominated for and won Pantomime Awards before and it is no surprise. The set is colourful and fills every inch of the Playhouse stage. There are so many different sets but each one has a similar style ensuring we remain immersed in the world. The costumes are equally colourful and you can really tell they are created new and specifically for this production.
John Morton returns at musical director for the 36th year. The small band create a huge sound and the cast’s vocals are consistently crystal clear. There are a lot of songs in this pantomime but there is a perfect mix of genres ensuring people of all ages will know at least a couple. Choreographer Rosanna Bates ensures the production feels energetic and vibrant with some great ensemble numbers, making full use of the talented young ensemble.
Sleeping Beauty really is a wonderful pantomime, designed to be enjoyed by all ages but with families as the main priority. It’s the perfect, festive, magical treat – don’t miss it!
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Jacob Bush
Sleeping Beauty plays at Nottingham Playhouse until 17 January, with further info here.