Humpty Dumpty. York Theatre Royal (From The Northern Echo)

Humpty Dumpty. York Theatre Royal

10:14am Thursday 17th December 2009

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MUCH is expected of a Berwick Kaler York pantomime. So if I say his 31st at the Theatre Royal isn’t one of his best, it still means it’s better than most.

Humpty Dumpty is a bit of a curate’s egg that veers from moments of sheer brilliance to moments that fall flat. When it’s good, it’s very, very good – and when it’s bad, it’s still very good.

The show still needs tucking and trimming by directors Kaler and Damian Cruden. You really can have too much of a good thing, I was thinking as the two-and-a-half hour mark was breached.

This length is remarkable considering the plot is virtually non-existent. Suffice to say the villain – the magnificently evil David Leonard, who else? – wants to take over the world.

As usual, Leonard is a marvellous scene-stealing, scenery-chewing baddie, from his hysterical first Tweedledum appearance to the villainous Demon Eggula. Sterling work too from Martin Barrass, with a spring in his step as Zebedee, and Suzy Cooper, whose Simple Simon isn’t. Simple, that is.

AJ Powell’s Brummie, shorttrousered Humpty is a jolly good egg, as are Vincent Gray’s Young King Cole and Julie Anna Castro’s Snow White (complete with seven penguins – don’t ask, it’s an excuse to take everyone to the frozen North).

Kaler himself, perhaps a tad more restrained than usual, marshals his troops, acting like a befrocked ringmaster of all the high jinks and low comedy.

The production, unlike some you’ll see in the pantomime season, looks like it cost a million dollars, with sets and costumes that bring a sparkle to the festive season.

■ Until Jan 30. Tickets 01904- 623568 or online at york theatreroyal.co.uk

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