Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates Review
Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates
The Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
14 December 2013 – 12 January 2014
Reviewed by Rachael Ives
My Mum, myself and my twin boys went to see this and the overall agreement was that it was fantastic. Really appropriate for all ages ranges, my 4 year olds were glued to their seats from start to finish!
Brain Connelly was his hilarious self, cracking gags and corpsing throughout, he captivated the audience with his well know saying such as ‘it’s a puppet’! Superb scripting with no doubt a fair few of his own ‘ab libs’. His energy was contagious and the audience participation proved that. He was a great choice to play Crusoe.
Lesley Joseph was enchanting as the Entranchress and at one point one of my boys whispered ‘I think she really is a fairy’. The rapport between Lesley and Brain was fab and lead to some cracking exchanges.
The show was filled with non-stop singing and dancing, using up to date songs that had us all gigging in our seats.
The special effects in this show really set it apart from others I have seen, I won’t spoil the surprise but there were two scenes that left even me speechless – huge congrats to Twin FX the visual special effects team for their efforts.
The show made many references to places in Southampton which made it feel our own and the fast pace kept us on the edge of our seats throughout.
A superb variety of costumes that glinted and dazzled in the spot lights, particularly Mrs Crusoe’s who like any Panto Dame needed to get undressed!
A special treat was to see the Mazeppa Cossacks busting moves you would never have thought possible.
I do however have to say that at one point there was a quip about suicide, with suicide being the biggest killer of young men under 35 I found this totally inappropriate. Jokes would not have been made in relation to cancer or road traffic accidents and I have to admit I felt offended. With 9 people taking their lives every minute I can guarantee that I was not the only person in the audience to have felt this way.
That said this was a fantastic outing for all the family and I would definitely recommend people to put this at the top of their ‘to do list’.
Rating: 4.5/5
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