The Princess and the Pea at Unity Theatre Liverpool Review
The Princess and the Pea
Unity Theatre, Liverpool
4 December 2015 to 9 January 2016
www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk
Reviewed by Louise Turton
A most apPEAling show!
I travelled to the Unity Theatre in Liverpool on Saturday 12 December and after a testing journey due to a temperamental satnav, was most grateful to locate the theatre.
Parking is limited as much of the surrounding area is residents parking only so we chose to park in the nearby (five minute walk away) Philamonic car park, priced at £6 per stay.
With great relief we found our seats quickly with seconds to spare.
The theatre is very intimate and cosy with a real feeling of being part of the show as seating is located on both sides of the stage.
The Princess and the Pea is an Action Transport Theatre production and has a cast of four taking on various parts.
At the beginning we are introduced to the hero of our story, The Pea, a Pea who wants to find his place in the tale with a song and dance routine, queue many crowd pleasing pea jokes, but of course as in any great story nothing goes smoothly and his five minutes of fame is always interrupted.
This is a fairytale that I am not too familiar with and at the beginning we find our ‘princess’ at stormy seas, created by the queen of Meane intent on not letting her reach the Meane land, although her boat sinks she reaches Meane but is greeted with distaste, the people of Meane are of a mean nature.
The Princess and the Pea is a tale with a moral and a contemporary, modern day twist. I’m afraid I only realised this after the event and am not sure most children would be completely unaware of this also.
We carried on our story with the heroine trying her way in the land of Meane and coming upon the Queens son, the Prince.
Throughout the first there are many musical numbers finishing with the rip roaring ‘Queen of Meane’ with audience participation encouraged we all went into the interval singing ‘mean I’m on my way now’ in fact it was so catchy I’m still singing it now!
After a quick break the story continued, we had now reached the familiar part of the story – a tired Princess, a Pea and a bed-, this half again featured many rousing musical numbers and had a far more light-hearted feel than the first half, this was also an opinion of my 9 and 11 year old reviewers on the journey home.
Of course without giving anything away as with all great pantos we get a happily ever after and a happy audience, saving the best till last the Pea gets his moment to shine with the show stealing ‘Pea song’ a fantastic end to a fun production, special praise goes out to Graham hicks, who not only played the Pea but also the minister of Meane, he was simply sensational.
We all enjoyed this Panto immensely but the Unity Theatre have stated it is aimed at older children.
Well done and thank you Action Transport Theatre and to all involved for a wonderful afternoon.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £8 to £14 (booking fees may apply).
The Princess and the Pea is at the Unity Theatre in Liverpool until 9 January 2016. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0151 709 4988.
Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG | 0151 709 4988
