Robinson
Crusoe & The Caribbean Pirates, Birmingham Hippodrome; Cinderella, The
Theatre, Chipping Norton, review
Brian Conley's hyperactive
contribution to Robinson Crusoe & The Caribbean Pirates at Birmingham
Hippodrome is too overbearing, but Cinderella at Chipping Norton's The Theatre
is warm and imaginative, writes Dominic Cavendish.
Having quit the insanity of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! last
month after ten days on medical grounds – he started acting oddly
– Brian Conley has plunged into the bedlam of pantomime
with Robinson Crusoe (two stars) at Birmingham Hippodrome, where acting
oddly is essential. Such is the manic, overbearing nature of his hyperactive contribution,
though – which almost turns this big, brash show into “An Audience with Brian
Conley” – that after two hours I wanted to scream “I love charm, pathos and a
decent plot – Get Me Out of Here!”
Lovelier by
far is this year’s panto at the delightful Chipping Norton Theatre, nearest
playhouse to the PM’s rural retreat and constituency home.
Ben Crocker’s script for Cinderella (four
stars), as directed by John Terry (no, not that one), isn’t averse to
double entendres, and the two ugly sisters, Richad Croughan’s Tutti and Shaun
Hennessy’s Frutti, wielding wee-spraying toy dogs (this year’s must-have panto
accessory), could hardly look more butch in drag.
Yet there’s
a warmth about this production, exemplified by the decision to relocate the
story to Venice and introduce specially composed music, ranging from rock to opera
pastiche, that makes it at once imaginatively rich and suitable for, well,
children. And that’s the point, isn’t it? Or am I missing something?
Cinderella until Jan 6; tickets: 01608 642350