Pantomime
Beauty and the Beast, His Majesty's, Aberdeen
Mary Brennan
FOUR STARS
The theatre is full to bursting with primary school posses, all ready to boo, hiss, and cheer. In this version of an old story - now tweaked with lots of local colour by Alan McHugh - the youngsters have ample opportunity to do all three, while adults in the audience can also chuckle over the twists that make this the oddest holiday romance ever! Belle and her two chums have fetched up in Auchterdreich: they have nowhere to stay. Could cheery Mrs Potty (Elaine C Smith) sneak them into her master's castle? Now we know, if Belle doesn't, that there's a Beast behind those walls... and a scary-monster Kraken in the moat, all the work of Deadly Nightshade who went into a vile strunt when the Prince refused to marry her.
Will Belle (a sweet, but not saccharine, Maggie Lynne) come to love the Beast before the enchanted rose withers and dies? Will Belle's chums, Dame Kitty Brewster (McHugh himself, in full garish fig and punning form) and Boaby Brewster (Jordan Young, yet again turning numptiness into lovability), dish up a feast of cleverly-daft word-play - often at break-neck speed? Will wind also be broken? Will Elaine C Smith not merely join in the antics and patter but throw herself on a wrecking ball and wheech through the air in Miley Cyrus mode? Furryboots dae ye think ye are, ken? Well, the singalong cloot, with its Doric words to the tune of Agadoo, will make sure you know that this panto has again stayed true to its Majesty's roots. Now - watch out for that Kraken. It does exist. But maybe the roaming video camera is more of a threat - and it really reaches into the stalls!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article