THE LITTLE MERMAID | KING’S THEATRE, GLASGOW
★★★★★
“Smith and Mac share a natural affinity for finding the funny…”
Smokey bubbles, fishy funnies and a spectacularly staged undersea adventure finds Elaine C Smith and Johnny Mac in swimmingly good form as they lead one of the slickest companies in pantoland this year, at Glasgow’s Kings Theatre.
Fresh, vibrant, fast-paced but never rushed, Crossroads Pantomimes’ The Little Mermaid is a fairly new addition to their roster of titles but the producers obviously realised its potential when they commissioned Harry Michaels and Alan McHugh to adapt it for the festive stage. The story has everything a panto needs, a clash between good and evil, a loved up hero and heroine, a quest and plenty of opportunities for knock-about laughs, big routines, a whole back catalogue of popular tunes and magical special effects.
And so we meet Princess Ariel, the Little Mermaid herself, as she rescues Prince Eric from his sinking galleon – it’s love at first sight only they are soon parted. As Prince Eric recovers on land, Ariel must return to Atlantis where her banished aunt, the Sea Witch, is plotting to replace her sister, Queen Mary Monkfish, as Monarch of the Seven seas.
Determined to be reunited with the Prince, an ill-advised trade off with the Sea Witch allows Ariel to live as a human for three days in which time she must find, and win, her beau to be. Discovering Ariel missing, her best pal Johnny Crabstix, Queen Mary and Dishy Fishy, the Lord Provost of Atlantis, set off to rescue her and thwart the Sea Witch once and for all.
As Poseidon’s daughter, Elaine C Smith’s regal Queen Mary Monkfish, who retains a fair degree of real Glasgow street cred, is a delight. Warm and maternal, she riffs easily with her younger subjects in the audience while keeping silly side-kick Johnny Crabsticks, the ever-irrepressible Johnny Mac, under control. A double-act for eight years now, the pair share a natural affinity for finding ‘the funny’, never more than in a hilarious Traitors skit, in which Mac makes an uncannily convincing Claudia Winkleman, and an uproarious parody of Titanic’s My Heart Will Go On, set on the Waverley Paddle Steamer. Between them, they also get through a trawler full of fishy gags – I cod you not.
Mac once again delivers a masterclass in audience interaction with young and old under his spell from the moment Johnny Crabsticks arrives in his Yellow Submarine. And talking of spells, Hannah Jarrett-Scott as the Sea Witch channels the spirit and precision of the late Patricia Routledge and proves both compelling and commanding in the role, while Darren Brownlie’s Dishy Fishy is a cheeky, likeable creation. In the title role, Jasmine Jules Andrews is graceful and headstrong with a lovely singing voice.
With wordplays, a bonkers ‘Sea Chest of Truth’ routine, and an infectious lip-synch number that bounces along to roars of recognition with each new song, director Kathryn Rooney never lets the pace falter, while choreographer Jane McMurtrie has the eight strong ensemble drilled to perfection – never more than at the opening of Act Two, a nautically (Jean Paul Gaultier sailor anyone?) influenced rendition of Beluga Lagoon’s viral hit, The Glen, sung by Benjamin Lockhart, a striking Prince Eric.
Matching Andrew Exeter’s gorgeous set design – rich nautical blues and golds extend beyond the proscenium to create an immersive underwater realm – the ‘out-of-this-world’ special effects of The Twins are inspired, ensuring the Kings Theatre delivers one of its best pantos yet. You might even say, it’s fin-tastic!
Run ends 4 January 2024 Tickets HERE
