Review: BEAUTY AND THE BEASTIE, Glasgow Pavilion
It’s a tale as old as time… A nasty, cruel prince gets cursed by a fairy to live out his days as a hideous beast until he can find someone who loves him for who he is. A beautiful girl takes her mother’s place in his castle and slowly starts to fall for him despite his prickly exterior. And a larger-than-life dame and her daft son are the prince’s servants – well, maybe that bit’s slightly different than normal, but it is panto, after all.
The Pavilion is one of Glasgow’s oldest theatres, and it’s been producing pantomimes since 1920. It’s no real surprise, then, that Beauty and the Beastie is a pretty classic, traditional panto, hitting all of the expected story beats as well as the skits and sketches that don’t really make sense but give the audience a good laugh regardless.
Written and directed by Eric Potts and star Liam Dolan, Beauty and the Beastie takes the well-known story and sets it in Cludgie on the Cobbles, a village somewhere in Glasgow populated with all sorts of quirky characters. A digital screen sets the scene for the various locations we visit, and a small adult ensemble as well as a rotating cast of children help to fill the stage with colour and energy, performing Stephanie Fulton’s choreography with exuberance and precision.
The principal cast are clearly having a lot of fun with this panto, and this really translates to the audience, who get involved with the interaction with great enthusiasm. As Beauty, Jennifer Neil is sweet and charming, with a lovely singing voice, which pairs wonderfully with Scott Fletcher’s as the Beast. He manages to keep his diction clear throughout despite wearing a large, restrictive mask, and captures the Beast’s journey from callous and cruel to loving and caring effectively.
As baddie Benedict Bridie, Jack Jester has a lot of fun and relishes in the booing he receives. His rendition of ‘Uptown Funk’ is a real high point, ably assisted by his duo of sidekicks Hammy and Tammy (Grado and Stephen Purdon). These two are clearly Pavilion favourites and they make the most of every moment they’re on stage – their chemistry as a double act is palpable and they’re clearly out to make each other laugh the whole way through the show, which is highly entertaining for the audience too.
Of course, it wouldn’t be panto without a dame, and as Dame Dolly Drumchapel, Craig Glover is a treat. Dame Dolly is brash, bawdy and always on the right side of cheeky, and Glover’s physical comedy is excellent. If Dame Dolly’s on stage, her son Hector isn’t far behind, and Liam Dolan brings charm and gusto to Hector’s silliness. The highlight of the show is the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ scene – a panto classic, performed year after year around the UK, but somehow kept fresh and funny by Glover and Dolan with Grado and Purdon’s help. Just don’t question why the baddie’s sidekicks are teaming up with the dame and her son for this scene!
We had a lot of fun at the Pavilion’s panto this year, and based on the audience’s rapturous reactions, we weren’t the only ones. This is classic Scottish panto at its best – bright, bold and full of family-friendly Christmassy cheer.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Lorna Murray
Beauty and the Beastie plays at Glasgow Pavilion until 12 January 2025, with further info here.