Robin Hood Easter Panto at the Victoria Theatre Halifax Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

I adore the Victoria Theatre in Halifax and go every Christmas to watch the pantomime with my 5 year old daughter. It’s always a big hit with her (and me) so I was super excited to see an extra one this year! Unlike the “resident” Christmas show, this panto is touring and showing in Halifax for a limited period (8 April 2017) with television personalities cast in the leading roles.

The Victoria Theatre is located in the centre of Halifax, with carparks and on-road parking less than 5 minutes walk away. The theatre is deceptively spacious inside, with seating over three floors. In addition to the usual snacks kiosks and bars, flashing light toys were also for sale which (although mildly irritating for adults) just added to the fun for the kids. This time we also brought my 2 year old son along, and even though we were sat in the upper circle he was still able to see the entire stage.

The panto was “Robin Hood”, with the title role played by George Sampson. Robin’s arch enemy, The Sheriff of Nottingham (Andy Abraham) vows to marry Maid Marian (Dani Harmer) and defeat him so that he can increase taxes on the people of Nottingham. When the Sheriff’s efforts during an archery contest fail he targets Robins sister, Little Red Riding Hood, instead. Robin has to prevent the demise of his sister, and save Marion from marrying the evil Sheriff.

The link between two fairytales was clever and held the children’s attention. There were several references to television talent shows, naturally due to the cast, and we even witnessed Sampson’s amazing dance to “Singing in the Rain”. There is a nod to Honey-G with Red Riding Hoods Grandma, “Granny-G” which was genius and very funny, and whilst the Spice Girls routine is slightly dated it did work given the age of the parents in the audience!

Abraham’s voice is just smooth and effortless, and I was so pleased that he sang a couple of numbers particularly the final song. He has great stage presence and really threw himself into the role and the whole Panto philosophy. Sampson’s acting was surprisingly good, and despite his voice not being the strongest he held his own and put on a very comedic performance during the “Men in Tights” routine. In fact, he had a real wit about him throughout and seemed in his element.

Dani Harmer is a great actress and singer, with a few wrong notes that can be forgiven as this is a panto. However, I have to say, she lacked energy and enthusiasm in her dancing, although the children didn’t seem to notice. My daughter was captivated throughout and laughed along at the silliness. The traditional panto song, where actors sing and have to play different parts/changing costumes and generally being daft really made her giggle.

I was pleased to see they included “Everything I do, I do it for you”, but a lot of the songs were quite old and not familiar to the children in the audience.

My main criticism was that Little Red Riding Hood had a lisp (I assume it wasn’t natural) which was continually mocked. Now whilst the jokes seemed funny on the surface, I couldn’t help wondering how this attitude might affect the behaviour or feelings of children (in the audience) regarding their own or someone else’s speech impediment. Perhaps I am losing sight of the light-heartedness, but just something to ponder as it seemed poorly thought out. Other than that, I loved her part in the show and thought she brought fun and humour.

The actors playing the Granny and Friar Tuck really held the show together with their comedy and traditional adult jokes and audience participation, as the story lacked real substance. However, this is a pantomime and not the West End, and the kids enjoyed it.

Overall very entertaining and held the children’s attention throughout – it did pretty much what it says on the tin as far as a panto is concerned. I’d award the show 3 and half stars out of 5; I had to deduct half a star for the mocking of the speech impediment as this didn’t feel right to me.

Rating: 3.5/5

For other shows at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax visit www.calderdale.gov.uk/victoria.

Victoria Theatre, Fountain Street, Halifax HX1 1BP | 01422 351158