Pantomime
Dick McWhittington
Perth Concert Hall
Keith Bruce
four stars
ALAN McHugh's script for the panto fable of the ambitious lad who saves the town from rat invasion with the help of his feline friend is also playing at His Majesty's in Aberdeen with the writer in the cast, but it is safe to guess that show resembles Perth's barely at all, so packed full of local detail is this production. A fake news bulletin that shows the spire of St John's collapsing is the first use of screen technology that ends with a chant of "Project the Text" replacing the traditional "Bring Doon the Cloot" for the singalong. It is – thankfully – reliable throughout (never a given on a panto's first night), but so, crucially, is the large cast, the team of young hoofers and crooners not excepted.
Barrie Hunter and Harry Ward are a seasoned comedy double-act as Senga McScruff and her similarly lovelorn son, Sandy, with Hunter's funky electric bass playing adding an individual layer of accomplishment to the traditional panto dame. She longs for Sweetie Shoppie boss Stanley Mills (camel-coated "business-man" Ian Bustard), while Sandy is tongue-tied in the company of his daughter Melody (Karla Harvey), who only has eyes for Dick (John Winchester), lured back from X-Factor ambitions in that London to save the Fair City (by Fairy Maid AmyBeth Littlejohn) from Queen Rat (Eleanor Griffiths, who was Sally Bowles in Andrew Panton's superb Cabaret at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and her rodent minions.
Considering a trade deal with Morocco, brokered via Skype, is also pivotal to the "plot", it is amazing the number of local stores and landmarks that are shoehorned in to the gags and song-lyrics. Local councillors and Stagecoach millionaire Ann Gloag come out of it all particularly badly.
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