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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
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Every Christmas in Aberdeen the big question on everyone’s lips is: what is this year’s pantomime? Never mind the whole: is Santa coming to my house?!
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This year we are being treated to a very Aberdonian version of “Sleeping Beauty: The Pantomime of Your Dreams”. Our scripts are always custom written by Alan McHugh, who plays the dame each year. As always there is a local slant to the names and the jokes. Sleeping Beauty is set in Aberdonia, some Doric is included, and lovable HMT panto regular Paul J Corrigan plays a character called Slimeball.
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Pantomimes have a certain formula, you know that there will be the “oh no it isn’t”, “oh yes it is” audience participation as well as the fabulous dame, and the cute character that we are all instructed to yell hello to whenever he comes on stage. This time we have Gary Tank Commander shouting “Hiya Troops!” I must admit I had no knowledge of this character previously and had naively presumed that he was some kind of Action Man TV character for youngsters. I was slightly wrong on that, as probably everyone reading this will know, because he is very well known as being from a sitcom about soldiers. He may not be your average member of the British army… He is very amusing, although they do seem obsessed about the fact that his name is Gary, presumably part of his usual character.
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This year Crossroads Pantomimes have really upped their game with the sets and costumes. Perhaps it is because of the Aurora Princess theme, but several times when the curtains opened or the background dancers came on stage I squealed at the gloriousness of their outfits. They are simply stunning, so super shiny! There seem to be more lights flashing around the theatre and lots of pyrotechnics. It is all just very glorious and amazing. Even on arrival there are beautiful lights projected around the theatre in the shape of spinning wheels, which we all know is a key part of the Sleeping Beauty plot.
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Two key parts of the HMT pantomime formula that always appear are parts that I found incredibly hilarious this year. It is not that you get bored of them, more that you wonder what they are going to do with them next! One is when they tell a story with a theme running through that basically is a play of words. This year it is a story about the dame going on a date, which is illustrated with musicians. So the first one is a picture of U2, with “you two” being part of the story script. At one point we had Ma”donna kebab”. It is all very cleverly scripted and funnily done and as a music lover this one particularly struck a chord and I was giggling all the way through!
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The other key component is when they sing a repetitive song with appropriate props. This year there are only four of the cast singing The Twelve Days of Christmas, or an adaptation thereof! So there are “five bog rolls” for example. It would be interesting to know how this scene was actually written, as I do think there may have been some slips from the script the evening we were there, but it was all absolutely hilarious. Gary Tank Commander even caught the ring of bog rolls right over his head when it was thrown from the stalls and a huge cheer went up, well deserved! Anyone that did not find themselves laughing out loud through this part of the performance in particular might need to have a humour check at some point in the new year as it was comedy genius.
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If you have not already got tickets, Sleeping Beauty runs at HMT until early January and it is definitely well worth a visit. We all need some festive cheer and this certainly has an abundance of it and will get you feeling festive. Oh yes, it will!
Further information: https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/sleeping-beauty-2/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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