Life could be so sweet in Retropolis, a slice of sci-fi comic book fantasy in the suburbs of Panto-town, if only there wasn't a giant "fe-fi-fo-fum-ing" in the upper realms of Stratospheria.
The stress of it all, what with his jive-talking henchman, Superfly, eyeing up Jack's love interest as a possible snack for Him Upstairs, is more than enough to curdle the milkshakes in Marge O'Reen's milk bar. But our Dame (Barrie Hunter) has a secret weapon that will bring peace, love and instant matrimony to the land: her two lads.
Jack (the strikingly charismatic Sandy Batchelor) radiates the kind of clean-cut, can-do panache that is the stuff of Boy's Own heroes, and girls' romantic wish lists. Then there's Angus (the highly personable George Ure) who makes the role of family numpty into something more than just a chirpy, cheeky chappie. Angus longs to be a super-hero and by the start of the second half he's in full heroic gear, including the tights, and singing 500 Miles alongside JackAttack (Batchelor), WonderWifie (Hunter) and Fairy Firefly.
Ofpants, the official panto watchdog, had doubts about the stark modernity of the futuristic set but warmed to it as the lighting design flooded vivid colour washes through it. And he wished the Fairy (Kirsty Malone) didn't get so strident and over-excited about how much she fancied Angus. These quibbles aside we agreed Alan McHugh's script was typically inventive, the production had real flair and offered audiences a super-charged, fun-packed new approach to an old familiar tale. Panto can go forward, to infinity and beyond.
HHH
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