It’s been a long and incredibly challenging year for theatre and for many venues, it has just been impossible to stage a pantomime this year. Pantomime is incredibly important to many regional theatres and a lucky few have been fortunate enough to be helped out by a new scheme from the National Lottery, allowing them to open with social distancing in place. The Theatre Royal Plymouth, the largest performance venue in the West Country, had to cancel its planned production of Aladdin but thanks to this amazing new scheme, the theatre was able to push ahead and set sail with a new socially distanced production of Robinson Crusoe. 

The audience may have been spread out and masked up but you could still feel a sense of excitement in the air as the welcome back announcement came over the tannoy. With music playing, pirate flag-themed lights swirling across the auditorium walls and the band warming up in the pit as the safety curtain rose, there was a sense of pure joy of being back in a theatre and sharing the experience of live entertainment with others again. With the Covid-secure procedures in place, I felt very safe and thrilled to be back in my beloved local after 9 months and 9 days. 

The small yet perfectly formed cast may have to follow all of the rules, including staying 2 metres away from one another at all times (with the exemption of the acrobat team… can you imagine!), but they are still able to bring the magic of panto to life. Jennie Dale (recently seen on CBeebies’ Swashbuckle and CBeebies panto) was a hit with the kids as the show’s baddie The Pirate Queen, bossing the other characters around and showing off her commanding stage presence. Les Dennis and Connor McIntyre make a comical pair as Mrs Crusoe and Captain Cockles respectively, performing a charming and humorous rendition of Hairspray’s ‘You’re Timeless to Me’ at a distance and giving their all to get the audiences going. 

Plymouth panto favourite Andy Ford takes on the role of Billy Crusoe, Robinson’s not so bright brother, and even in this strange and challenging year, he is able to delight the audience with every appearance on stage. His normal cheer of “hello boys and girls” may be gone to prevent too much shouting, but everyone was more than willing to join in with the ‘friendly little wave’. He had the audience in stitches in his scenes alongside Dennis and McIntyre with hilarious tongue twister and lip sync scenes. They may have to stand apart from one another but they are still able to make the audience laugh, whilst desperately trying not to slip up and laugh themselves, and that’s all in the spirit of pantomime! 

Blue star Simon Webb plays the title role of swashbuckling adventurer Robinsoe Crusoe and whilst we don’t actually meet him for a while, he plays the character well. He’s full of energy and impresses with his vocals in duets of ‘One Last Time’ and ‘One Love’ with Charlotte Haines as love interest Polly Cockles. Rebecca Bryant, Rachel Flynn and Leah Godbold play the magical mermaids, providing dance and vocal backing throughout, whilst specialist act The Timbuktu Tumblers play the crew of the Jolly Janner, amazing the audience with a number of incredible acrobatic, jump rope and limbo routines. Emily Beth Harrington also impresses as The Spirit of the Ocean, especially in the closing number ‘Pantoland’ - an emotional moment. 

In this year like no other, it’s no surprise that this wasn’t a normal panto. There had to be some changes made to fit with the rules but they made it work. Two sets were used throughout the performance, with all cast members only having one outfit for the entire show, so no multiple costume changes for the dame this year! At first it was a little strange to see a show where the cast had to be socially distanced but after a little while, you got used to it and you got swept away in the story. That’s the magic of theatre. I think that people were just so happy to be back at the theatre seeing a family pantomime, that they didn’t mind the changes that had to be made.

It may not have been the big and over-the-top pantomime we are used to seeing from Qdos but after everything the industry has been put through this year, that doesn’t matter. Families are still drawn into a story, transported to somewhere magical by live performance, and it was something that they could all enjoy together safely. The cast have to give it their all to make it all work around the rules and they make it look easy to do so. It’s also wonderful to see how much it means to the cast and how happy they are to be back on a stage in 2020. A pirate adventure for the whole family to enjoy.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rebecca Wallis