This is Liverpool, so the most frightening set of teeth are those of Cilla Black. Every time the baddies look at them we hear a round of Anyone Who Had a Heart. Laced with poison, they could be fatal.
Did I say Liverpool? I should have said Lidlpool, a city where the middle aisle can save the day and where, in Kevin Fearon’s raucous script, the threat to Grandma comes from two metaphorical wolves. The old woman’s cottage is the only thing standing in the way of a multistorey car park. The lupine property developers, Cash and Carry (Andrew Schofield and Keddy Sutton), will stop at nothing – even Cilla’s teeth – to get her evicted.
This sideswipe at commercial greed takes us several woodland walks away from the traditional Red Riding Hood story. Throw in some werewolf mythology and a touch of Goldilocks, and there is almost nothing of the original left. Grandma enjoys a night of drug-fuelled abandon. Red Riding Hood shoots off to the moon. The fate of the cottage rests on a pub quiz.
So far, so novel, especially with the meta-theatrical storyline about an understudy (Chantel Cole) who brings the house down with a blistering One Moment in Time. But the rewriting of the plot has a downside: there is lots to love in this over-16s panto, but less to care about.
The plus points are many. The jokes are plentiful and, in Mark Chatterton’s production, the nine-strong ensemble are as funny as they are full-voiced. In a show where music is central (songs by B*Witched, Burt Bacharach and, er, St Winifred’s school choir), the band are excellent. And Ellie Light’s revolving set adds playful depth to 2D panto tradition.
All that makes it a very enjoyable show but it lacks someone to root for. The obvious candidate would be Red Riding Hood (Lydia Rosa Morales Scully) who is tough and dynamic but not especially under threat. Very much under threat is Grandma (Lindzi Germain), but she is having way too much boisterous fun to make us worry for her. As Cash and Carry grow desperate and their schemes more outlandish, they add more laughter than jeopardy.
At the Royal Court, Liverpool, until 18 January
