The 2024 pantomime at Stirling's Macrobert Arts Centre is Snow White which is written by Johnny McKnight and directed by Julie Ellen.
It's Snow White but with a Sound of Music twist and Chris Forbes plays Nanny Maria Shut-Yon-Trapp (lovely stuff). Maria is sent from the convent to care for the seven children of the De'Wharff family. Their father has recently died and their stepmother The Baroness Fantasia De'Wharff (Giga Gray) needs help. She's also jealous of her eldest stepdaughter, Snow White (Tinashe Warikandwa) and has an evil plan brewing to get her out of the way.
There's fun to be had but it lacks the usual heart that Johnny McKnight pantos are known for. There's a bit of boo-ing and participation but overall, it's a quiet audience on this particular Sunday afternoon. The highlight for the younger audience members is Swanky De'Wharff (Helen McAlpine), the obligatory pantomime silly sausage to encourage everyone to shout out a greeting every time she steps onstage.
The mashed up plotline has the potential to be brilliant but as is usually the way in panto, the plot gets lost somewhere down the line.
The songs are mostly up-to-the-minute chart toppers but there's also a really fantastic Madonna medley. The ensemble cast work really well in these big numbers but are largely underused elsewhere in the production.
This pantomime has all of the requirements for a good pantomime but just slightly misses the mark for being something extra special.
Photo credit: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
Reader Reviews
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