OOR WEE MAMMY McGOOSE | KING’S THEATRE, KIRKCALDY
★★★★★
“You’ll have a broad smile on your face from beginning to end…”
Kirkcaldy King’s latest ‘wee panto’ once again proves that million pound budgets and celebrity names do not a great panto make. All it takes is passion, a lovingly crafted script, and a whole heap of talent, all things Oor Wee Mammy McGoose boasts in spades.
A love letter to Fife’s Lang Toun, written by Mark McDonnell, 2025’s tale may be the smallest panto in the land – just 65 seats a performance – but it’s so full of heart it is also one of the best.
There’s trouble brewing down at the Links Market, the longest street fair in Europe and the oldest in Scotland – it was established in 1304. However, this year’s fair will be the last ever if Madame Roxette, the fair’s new fortune teller, has her wicked way. She’s conjuring up a storm; Kirkcaldy will fall, blown into the choppy waters of Forth.
Luckily, Mammy McGoose, her daughter Frankie, best pal Bampot, and fairground man Johnny Waltzer are on hand to thwart her plans. But will they be able to resist the power of Madame Roxette’s all powerful crystal ball, the source of her mystical powers… and why do they find themselves in Blackpool Tower, via a detour around the ‘back of the Ghost Train’ at the Pleasure Beach?
Director Suzi Budd uses the small playing area to great effect and expands it by taking the action into the audience, creating a performance that brings cast and audience together in a shared, intimate immersive experience.
An ensemble piece in the truest sense of the word, the cast of five display more energy in their opening number than is expended in the entirety of other productions. Billy Mack, a masterful Dame, is physical, funny, chaotic but always true. Consequently, Mammy McGoose is a creation you can’t help but warm too – even when Mack descends into the audience looking for a baldy napper to kiss. A dynamo of a performer, he gives it his all.
Bringing out the boos as the traitorous Madame Roxette, West End star Shona White is deliciously evil… but it’s hard to dislike her too much, not when she has the best voice in the show. A real showstopper, her powerful, smoky, heartfelt rendition of the Radiohead hit, Creep, showcases her range magnificently and might just tempt you to join her over on the dark side.
Writer McDonnell is also on stage as the not too bright Bampot, admirer of Mammy and a fairground handyman. With a knock-knock jokes for every occasion, he rattles them out in rapid succession ensuring the laughter never stops, even when they’re the corniest Christmas Cracker gags you can imagine.
Elsewhere, love is in the air for Sarah Brown Cooper and Ross McKenzie, as the feisty, dance crazy Frankie, and bashful, rockabilly Johnny. The pair also have two of the strongest voices in pantoland, singing everything from Cher to Grease and Robbie Williams. And let’s not forget Gus, the goose of Christmas Past who narrates the tale, voiced by Graham Scott.
With the live underscoring of musical director Stephen Roberts adding atmosphere throughout, he also accompanies all the big numbers, highlights of which include an ABBA tribute that will ensure you never listen to Gimme Gimme Gimme in the same light again, a visit from Oasis, and McDonnell and Mack throwing some excellent shapes from the most unlikely pair of Blues Brothers you’re likely to meet.
Two filmed segments, one a collection of vintage footage of the Links Market in its heyday, the other a surreal trip through time and space, are also nice touches.
Oor Wee Mammy McGoose is a fine example of everything a local pantomime should be, and don’t be surprised to find that when you’re not laughing you have a broad smile on your face, no matter where you’re from. You won’t be the only one – everybody loves Kirkcaldy.
Run ends 10 January 2026 Tickets HERE
