Review: Traditional Panto Will Make You Smile At New Wimbledon Theatre
Snow White's talented cast bring a touch of Christmas magic to SW19
Photo by Craig Sugden of John Archer, Matthew Kelly and Lee Mead
Every panto tradition is ticked off when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs grace the New Wimbledon Theatre stage for the Christmas pantomime season.
That's no bad thing, for there's nothing like traditional panto fayre to provide fun for all the family without the need for some of the technical wizardry seen in previous SW19 festive offerings.
Forget flying cars, 3D glasses and film trickery, this panto is good, honest, fun and also a fabulous showcase of the talents of the assortment of stars who take the lead roles.
Our swashbuckling hero is Prince Lee of Lambeth, played by Lee Mead - the 2007 winner of the TV reality show, 'Any Dream Will Do'. Since then he's played a variety of other roles and there were several nods to his part of Joseph (and the Technicolour Dreamcoat) as well as his appearances in TV's 'Casualty' and 'Holby City'.
All of these references - including his faultless performance of 'Any Dream Will Do' - raised a smile from the older members of the audience. The younger section of the panto crowd found Dick & Dom, as the court jesters, more to their taste.
They were the principal protaganists of the show's toilet humour - a must for every panto. The youngsters were soon shouting 'bogeys' every time they appeared. They also put on a brilliant word play double act as well as joining in a comic version of 'The 12 Days of Christmas'.
Of course a panto is not complete without a dame, and Matthew Kelly made a Wimbledon return to play Mrs Nelly Nightnurse. He never lets a panto audience down, and nor did his amazing costumes. I'd liked to have seen more of him, but there were plenty of other talented actors in this cast to have their share of the limelight.
Brenda Edwards, as the Spirit of Pantomime, had a sublime voice and prescence. She sung with such power that you had to sit up and listen to her. The same was perhaps not quite so true of Hannah Lowther as Snow White. But you could see why it was love at first sight for Prince Lee and Snow White, before the story unfolded as wicked Queen Lucretia (Ruthie Henshall) tried to keep the prince for herself.
The technical trickery came from her speaking mirror where a green demon guided her in her evil ways. The other surprise came from the snow which fell onto half of the audience in the stalls just before the interval.
Credit for adding to the show's humour must also go to John Archer, who played the ukulele-wielding Oddjob. He's also a talented magician and this came to fore when an 11-year-old girl was plucked from the audience to join in the fun. It would have been good to have seen more children in the spotlight - but perhaps that will come before the show's run ends on New Year's Eve.
I've barely covered the story, but in the panto tradition, it's no surprise that good overcomes evil and Snow White and Prince Lee are united forever. On the way there was also some lively dancing and music, the usual local references and a quirky version of the gang of Seven Dwarfs. So all panto bases were covered and there's no doubt an enjoyable time was had by all - what more could you want at Christmas?
The show runs until December 31 and ticket details are here.
By Sue Choularton
December 8, 2022