“Join our crew as they band together to defeat the world’s greatest evil: Ratt Lucas. Using the power of friendship and a predictable parody (or two), will they succeed in the endeavour? Or will there be egg on their faces?”
Their publicity promised plenty of bad puns, and this young, vibrant, fun-loving theatre company delivered. What they lacked in experience they more than made up for in enthusiasm and really bad puns.
From the get go this musical theatre show was high energy and funny in that dad-joke way pantomime is humorous. Carefully weaving their pantomime plot into the familiar format of the Bake-Off Semi Final – Pastry Week, the cast danced and sung their way through a series of challenges, with familiar tunes and numbers such as “Every cake you bake,” “Winner bakes it all,” “As long as he kneads me,” and “Another one bites the Crust.” They appeared to have a ball whilst doing it.
The cast including Mary Raspberry and Paul Hereford embraced the over the top nature of pantomime to great effect as they tried to navigate the Bake-Off technical under the shadow of glorious villain, Ratt Lucas and his secret accomplice. Ludicrous schemes including the swapping of dark brown sugar for the lighter version and the attempted framing of beloved hosts Mel (Melancholy) and Sue (Superb) ensue before the truth is revealed to a suitably befuddled cast and order is, once again, restored in the tent. This show will be of particular interest to Bake Off fans (that’s one in seven of us) but its simple plot and endearing characters make it easy to follow regardless.
If I am honest, they could have rehearsed more and choreographed better, and they most definitely should not have bowed in pairs at the end. There was a lot of them, and it took far too long but pantomime is allowed be a bit messy as long as everyone, especially the audience, has fun, and they appeared to.
As a young company (they are in year 2) MATO’s stated aim is to make uplifting productions and on this front they have more than achieved their remit.
Reviewer: Triona Scully
Reviewed: 16th August 2025
North West End UK Rating: