BWW Reviews: BEOWULF- A BOUTIQUE PANTO, The Rosemary Branch Theatre, December 10 2011

Yes, Beowulf.

And what fun everyone has with the ancient Anglo-Saxon epic poem (not a sentence written too often, I venture).

The Charles Court Opera's fifth annual pantomime checks all the boxes: preposterous Dame; princess in danger rescued by hero; comic sidekick; audience participation; double entendres; cheesy songs slaughtered - and a whole lot more.

With King Hrothgar's kingdom raided by the monster Grendel to provide human food for the dragon, Beowulf pitches up and sets off on a quest to slay the dragon, save the kingdom and win the hand of Princess Hrothmund.

But the plot is merely the jumping off point for a torrent of bad jokes, slapstick and tomfoolery. All the turns are infectiously funny from Simon Masterton-Smith's squiffy King to John Savournin's Lily Savageish Grendel's Mother, with Kevin Kyle's Beowulf and Amy J Payne's Wiglaf just about keeping straight faces, as Philip Lee's Grendel appears with ever more unlikely household appliances in place of his left arm.

All of the above make this an excellent family panto, but what sets this show apart is the music. Catrine Kirkman as the Princess and Sian Winstanley as The Spirit of Good Cheer are beautiful singers - but with a cast laden with awards for music, the standard is consistently superb. As is the keyboard work of the always dazzling Eaton-Young Piano Duo supplemented by Ben Calvert boom-tishing on drums.

So, in another sentence that can't have been written too often before about the 3000+ lines poem, Beowulf - what's not to like?

Beowulf is at The Rosemary Branch Theatre until 8 January 2012