That’s why I’m a firm fan of the annual Footlights/CUADC pantomime, which aims not at the mums and dads or the kids (of which there are zero in tonight’s audience), but at those of us somewhere in between.
This year’s production continues the trend of selecting a lesser-known fable as inspiration: The Emperor’s New Clothes. Here, in an olde English town where children skip and busty women throw water into the streets (‘and everyone wears tiny microphones on their faces!’), the kingdom eagerly awaits the Yuletide Parade. Emperor Wilf, vain and clueless, prepares an outfit which will dazzle all who see it, but a certain newspaper tycoon – Rudolph Murder – has other ideas.
The news theme runs throughout the story, satirizing the shallow, gossip-mongering of tabloids and hinting at a deeper concern that, for these bright writers in the age of free online news, journalism looks like an increasingly desolate career option. All in the form of silly songs and animal costumes, of course.
The success of any panto rests heavily on the broad, sparkly shoulders of its dame and fresher Zak Ghazi-Torbati launches with great confidence and vigour into the role of saucy, rambunctious Flo Inkwell. His seduction scene with Olivia Le Andersen, coolly captivating as Rudolph Murder, is particularly wonderful, and a witty ad-libbed reply to a cheeky audience heckle raises the roof.
Other madcap characters cavort in and out of the loosely-woven plot, memorably the two outrageously French guards: certainly a Monty Python nod. The music too, performed by a live orchestra, is a real treat, and the likes of Out With The Old wouldn’t feel out of place in a West End musical.
There are certain treats I know the Footlights panto won’t fail to deliver: a sparky script, studenty satire and a brilliant original score being just a handful. And while The Emperor’s New Clothes has all these, there’s a sense that something’s missing – besides Wilf’s undies. Not content: at nearly three hours it’s long, and could do with some culling of the more redundant scenes (random ink making, India, Toggles lost in the woods). No, what it lacked for me was Christmas sparkle. Save the Rudolph reference, I felt a little cheated of snow and Santa.
Still, for a raucous, endlessly surprising musical ride, potential nudity and to hear Lucy from the Narnia films’ lovely singing voice this Christmas, go see it. This is a review, after all, and if The Emperor’s New Clothes teaches us anything it’s never to believe what we read. Or trust a woman dressed as a man dressed as a reindeer.
The Emperor’s New Clothes, ADC Theatre, until 6 December, 7.45pm. Tickets £9-£14.
