There is something incredibly nostalgic about the pantomime - and for many families, it's become a bit of a tradition to go every year. After a bit of absence due to Covid, it feels wonderful to be back in theatres in person and able to watch performances offline.
It's perfectly timed as we could all do with a bit of a laugh at the minute or a bit of escapism after a tough year. It's difficult to stay in a bad mood after watching a performance, no matter how awful the weather is outside.
So on a cold, completely random Monday evening, we went to see Nottingham Playhouse's new production of Dick Whittington. The legendary story follows Dick Whittington as he battles the evil rat king to become Major of London while falling in love with the beautiful Alice.
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This year, the production is written and directed by Adam Penford with musical direction by John Morton. It will run until January 14 next year with performances available online and in person.
Feeling slightly blue before we arrived, it wasn't long before we got into the true spirit of panto which is shouting "it's behind you!" - and laughing at fart jokes. It wasn't just the children laughing and enjoying the show as we spotted quite a few adults getting into the spirit too.
I wasn't sure what I was going to make of the panto as I've not been to one since I was 13 which was more years ago than I'll admit to. With my neon yellow mohawk, black clothes and tattoos, I'm not the type of person you would expect to be in attendance but I absolutely loved it. I even found myself getting into the dance moves along with the audience at one stage while pretending to have cat whiskers.
As always, while the humour may be aimed at children, there are enough naughty jokes to keep adults entertained too. Also, any excuse to cheer on a good local mention for the left lion - and the recent addition of padlocks on Nottingham Castle. The focus of the story may be London but writers couldn't resist throwing in a good "ey up" to get the show going.
As always with the Playhouse, the set design was incredible as the beautifully constructed colourful designs really drew us into the story. There were shrieks of joy from the children, and a few adults, as the stage moved and at times had tiny furry rats running up and down the props.
While the story is about Dick Whittington, John Elkington as Sarah the Cook absolutely stole the show thanks to a combination of outrageous costumes and an even more outrageous collection of jokes. Costumes at one stage included Sarah dressed head to toe in a perfume counter complete with bottles.
Christopher Chandler as the rat king is the perfect baddie, too, prompting boos and hisses every time he stepped out on stage. This year's sponsors of the production, Nottingham City Transport and the Woodland Trust, got a cheeky mention or two.
We also really loved the underwater bit which covered a quick costume change. As our heroes are shipwrecked, they are plunged underwater where a host of colourful characters swim past illuminated in bright neon-lit by UV lights.
The time absolutely flew past as we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves screaming, laughing and singing along with the rest. It was exactly what we needed after a tough day to put the smiles back on our faces and get us in the seasonal spirit.
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