Cinderella: Newcastle Theatre Royal

EEEEH, me bonny bairns, they’re back. The wow factor has entered the building. We’re in the…erm Kingdom of Newcastle, a place where the leaves grow on trees in the middle of winter and women are an endangered species, what with all the men in frocks. We have our Dame, Chris Hayward, returning for his tenth consecutive panto as an uber-glamorous Fairy Godmother and also Peter Peverley and Steve Arnott as Ugly Sisters Hernia and Verruca respectively. The duo are canny, but underused. Cinderella (Laura Evans) is proper fairytale, with a voice like toasted marshmallows.

Danny Adams as Buttons and Clive Webb as Baron Hardup have the kids on the floor with laughter. Adams has more than a few tricks, as well as a flock of doves up his sleeves. The slapstick scene was particularly joyous to watch. Occasionally, the humour crashes straight through the thin ice of taste though. Parodying Freddie Mercury complete with false teeth was a low point.

Amid the cheap gags there is a very expensive show and pure panto magic is turned up to the max time and again. We have a stunning coach and horses, beautiful snow and some fabulous flying from the start. The 3-D interlude is suitably scary and scream-inducing.

I’d love to see more interaction between the Clive ‘n’ Danny show and the other characters in the future and also the opportunity for the whole cast to show what they’re made of. But go and see this. You’ll have a ball.

* Runs until Sunday, January 15. For tickets ring 08448 11 21 21 or go to theatreroyal.co.uk

Sarah Scott