Mother Goose – The Lowry

Most people are introduced to the world of live theatre through the medium of pantomime, my own 1970’s childhood is littered with memories of Anita Harris and Cilla Black slapping their thighs as Dandini, or John Inman in high camp mode as The Dame, household names at the time that are now consigned to occasional appearances on UK Gold. Maybe these somewhat confusing memories slightly put me off, as in the interests of full disclosure I should confess that despite spending large amounts of my time in the theatre, I don’t really like pantomime!

However, the opportunity to see Sir Ian McKellen live on stage is a chance any self respecting theatre buff is never going to turn down, so I duly took my seat in a packed Lyric Theatre, prepared for a couple of hours of indulgent, farcical nonsense, which is exactly what we were served.

The plot is totally incidental to the activity on stage and concerns the travails of the destitute Goose family – husband Vic (John Bishop), son Jack (Oscar Conlon – Morrey) and the eponymous Caroline ‘Mother’ Goose (a young newcomer Sir Ian McKellen) – being evicted due to the dastardly machinations of the evil ‘Energy Company’ (cue audience hisses and booing). The arrival of Cilla (Anna-Jane Casey) a goose that literally lays the golden egg, is seemingly the answer to their prayers but as Mother Goose discovers, money cannot buy love and true happiness.

Written by Jonathan Harvey (Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Coronation St), all the tropes expected in a classic panto are present, the characters are two dimensional and everyone does pretty much exactly what you would expect; good fairies are good and bad fairies are bad; the loveable, but dim, son falls in love; there is a moment of redemption for the lead character and we all live happily ever after. The initial topical jokes, involving a rather good Boris Johnson puppet and ‘Cruella’ Braverman, promise more but then quickly fade into the background, replaced by more outdated camp buffoonery and double entendres. It is not to say that it isn’t all good fun for both audience and cast alike, but it did feel formulaic and dated, some of the jokes felt like they had been exhumed from a different era, eliciting groans of recognition rather than laughter from an untypical Press Night audience.

What was lacking in the script was more than compensated for by the performances across the entire cast. Keeping a pantomime on the road from its traditional Christmas slot through until Easter is no mean feat, and as the cast, crew and creative team approach the end of a twenty week tour each individual has slickly found their groove. The costume design by Liz Ashcroft is a perfect feast of excessive vulgarity, McKellen looks sublimely ridiculous in everything from a feather boa to a Beefeater costume, setting the benchmark for what a pantomime should look like. Each of the ensemble have their moments in the spotlight but are showcased best during the montage of musical theatre tributes which comprises most of the second act, A Chorus Line (One) best demonstrating their undoubted quality.

Both Sharon Ballard (Encanta) and Karen Mavundukure (Malignia) gave strong vocal performances in their respective roles as the fairies, with Ballard channelling her inner Tina Turner to good effect (River Deep, Mountain High). What John Bishop lacks in acting ability in the limited role of Vic, he amply compensates for in charisma and stage know-how, expertly interacting with the audience and frequently corpsing, demonstrating real warmth and humanity in his performance.

Of course, I leave the best until last, the phrase ‘National Treasure’ is greatly misused but in the case of Ian McKellen I make no apologies as it is totally justified. What will you be doing when you are 83 years old? Chances are it will not involve performing in two shows in one day in front of nearly 2,000 people at a time. The man is a force of nature, so asking me to review his performance is rather like asking your local builder to critique St Paul’s Cathedral. However, the adjective which best describes him is relaxed, each time he comes onstage the audience feels safe and comfortable in the hands of a consummate professional; he makes bad lines good and good lines great. Glimpses of his magnificent stagecraft are evident when he lapses into Portia’s speech from ‘A Merchant of Venice’, or when reminiscing about how he came to love theatre, through pantomime as a small boy growing up down the road in Bolton. I freely admit when he was on stage I concentrated solely on his performance, he possesses the characteristic of a truly great actor, an onstage generosity that knows he is the star but refuses to hog the limelight. An absolute privilege to watch him close up.

As to ‘Mother Goose’, it will delight children of all ages exactly as a pantomime should. Despite the creaking script it is rescued by great energy, humour and strong performances throughout the cast, crowned by the opportunity to watch a theatrical legend at work. https://thelowry.com/

Reviewer: Paul Wilcox

Reviewed: 5th April 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★