Jokes Come Thick and Fast in this Lively, Traditional Panto

Joshua Chandos as Sarah. Photo by Andrew Maguire Photography.

Sleeping Beauty, performed by Tread the Boards at The Attic Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, from Sunday 22 December 2024 – 6 January 2025. Directed by Matilda Bott.

Review by Charles Essex

The clever rhyming script by John-Robert Partridge and Catherine Prout helped to move this traditional pantomime story along apace in this well-crafted tale. The intimacy of The Attic space clearly delighted the younger members of the audience in this family-friendly production, being so close to the heroes, heroines and villains.

Joshua Chandos was marvellous as Sarah, the traditional pantomime Dame who was nurse to Princess Aurora (Georgina Housby). He gave an assured performance that was the key to this successful production. He engaged with the audience with fresh gags and witty banter, and his singing was excellent both in his solos and the group songs.

Frankie Power as Carabosse. Photo by Andrew Maguire Photography.

Matt Rousseau was cheeky chappy Muddles who was in love with Aurora, but the evil Carabosse (Frankie Power) was there to thwart everyone’s happiness. Aurora and Prince Philip (Sam Dinnage) were a sweet couple who enchanted the younger audience members. Emily Teitz was confident in her role as Fairy Good, who came to the rescue to counteract Carabosse’s spell. Ashley Bailey did particularly well temporarily stepping in as the king for Attic regular Andrew Woolley.

Georgina Housby and Matt Rousseau. Photo by Andrew Maguire Photography.

Frankie lived up to her name, with a powerful performance as the villainess, much to the delight of the audience, and with her excellent singing. Frankie and Georgina coordinated their choreography superbly to Frankie’s rendition of Put a Spell On You. Her solo of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now was especially noteworthy. Indeed, the songs, with some minor alteration of words for this story, were well chosen throughout. The rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas by Joshua, Matt, Emily and Ashley was wonderful rehearsed chaos. However, on occasions the music drowned Georgina’s singing.