Robin Hood, Newcastle Theatre Royal (From The Northern Echo)

Robin Hood, Newcastle Theatre Royal

11:23am Tuesday 14th December 2010 in Entertainment By Viv Hardwick

THIS is pantomime par excellence. Father and son Clive Webb and Danny Adams are such old hands at what is rapidly becoming the UK’s most ambitious piece of Christmas entertainment that faux pas about previous shows add to the hilarity.

Adams’ brand of self deprecating childish humour continues to work its magic, particularly when he has a strop about having to wear green tights and “look like a girl”. Webb’s Friar Tuck swings neatly between partisan to Hood’s cause against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Steve Arnott at his whisker-bristling best) and playing Hardy to Adams’ Laurel.

Executive producer, writer and director Michael Harrison aids and abets his home city’s venue with an awesome array of props, costumes and special effects. The highestpriced is a superior 3D section, for which some rather natty yellow-framed glasses are supplied, as Adams and helper The Sorceress (a comely attired Tupele Dorgu) sneak through a castle which has every creepy crawlie and Hammer horror racing forward to seemingly attack the audience.

The reaction was instant and brought the required screaming ab-dabs from younger members.

They weren’t quite so quick at picking up on some of the cleverer gags, including Dorgu asking Adams “Don’t you know where I come from?”, to the response “The knicker factory in Coronation Street... and all your friends are dead”.

And Webb dressed as X Factor no-hoper Wagner deserved to bring the house down. But it was a Webb- Adams Punch and Judy show full of well-rehearsed ad-libs and the prat-falls of Will Scarlet (Michael Quinn), Maid Marion (Lauren Hall) and Adams while balancing on a wall that registered the best laughter response.

The constantly changing costumes of Chris Hayward as Nurse Rita are worthy of their own fashion parade and Harrison throws in everything from a Metro train replica to a Rington’s Tea hand-drawn carriage to assist the Geordie female impersonator.

If I had any criticism at all it is that Robin and his Merry Men probably aim for the bullseye of adult humour a little too often, but, hopefully, it’s as much above the kids’ heads as the full-size dragon which floats out into the auditorium in the first half.

■ Robin Hood runs until January 15. Box Office: 08448-112-121 theatreroyal.co.uk