Review: SLEEPING BEAUTY, Hexagon Theatre Reading
Justin Fletcher and Paul Morse are now well established as the resident comedy double act at the Hexagon in Reading each Christmas and together, they deliver a high-quality pantomime that delights the 2-10 year olds in the audience who know Fletcher as Mr Tumble on CBeebies, and the parents and grandparents who are familiar with the essential routines of the genre.
Fletcher’s scripts avoid the usual adult innuendo of so many shows, integrates the ensemble and junior ensemble into the action well and ensures that the songs and business flow from the narrative (even if sometimes rather tangentially) to create a very satisfying whole.
This year’s version of Sleeping Beauty starts beautifully with Fairy Starlight (Gracie Peters) explaining the back story of Beauty (Sophie Kandola) with the help of the four delightful junior ensemble fairies and her rival, her sister, Venomous (Rachel Delooze) before we meet the Royal Court led by the King (David J Higgins) and the suitor Prince (Carl Tracey). Each is strong enough to make an impact and Fletcher steps back to allow them time to do so.
However, the show highlights all involve Fletcher’s character of Justy the Jester and some very good proven routines that always work with the audience. The ‘If I Was Not Upon The Stage’ is executed well, if a little less frenetically than elsewhere, the Ghost bench scene sticks to the traditional business and payoff, and the song sheet of ‘Old MacDonald’ involves the kids by sending the ensemble into the audience with microphones. He and Paul Morse (Nanny Bubbles) always include a slosh scene with a huge pink plastic mat, massive syringes of foam and a large bucket of slosh, and always involves Morse’s wig falling off to reveal his hairnet. The returning audience expect to see the routine. They have also established the award-winning balloon ballet as a regular feature of their shows and when they left it out last year, the audience booed! It returns this year and remains a comedy masterclass by its simplicity in execution and the repetition of the dance routine and the single word “balloon”.
Fletcher also takes two other standards of pantomime, the pun run and the lip sync routine and gives them a very fresh integrated feel that provide two show highlights. When the Prince and Beauty begin a romantic duet in the woods ‘The Power of Love’, Fletcher enters in search of ingredients for his cake and very cleverly uses them to illustrate the words they sing. It is a unique and brilliantly conceived innovation on the typical comedy pun run. The lip sync routine puts Fletcher in charge of musical responses to the Prince’s description of their predicament with the whole cast and ensemble joining the dance movements to each excerpt.
The settings are colourful and pretty but are enhanced by two more creative flourishes. When they need to travel forward in time by 100 years, Justy produces the “turdis” made of a Portaloo and explains it with a string of poo jokes that go down very well. Later when the final battle comes, we see a group of UV lit skeletons before a giant dinosaur head appears, presumably to show how it has grown since Fletcher’s Jurassic Park style opening to the show. These touches of theatricality and creativity add to the overall enjoyable impression.
There is a gentle authority to Fletcher’s performance and while he is always in charge, he is generous with the other cast members moments in the spotlight, and this makes for a very good show . Director Steve Boden and his assistant David Lloyd Jones ensure an even pace is sustained throughout the two hours 10 minutes running time; nothing seems rushed or frantic, and it is wonderful to see both ensembles fully integrated into the show.
If you are looking for a post-Christmas family outing in Berkshire, then here is a perfect treat as it runs until 7 January 2024. It is an excellent example of the pantomime genre and is perfectly pitched for the young family audience.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne