Dick Whittington and his Catford Cat ★★★★

Well slap our thighs and three cheers, it’s panto season again. Dust down the sparkly Christmas jumper and head off to Catford in south-east London for some jolly Jamaican-themed festive fun. This year the Broadway Theatre, along with Joy Productions, has a cracking line-up of panto pros putting on their version of Dick Whittington and his Catford Cat. So will this retelling of the traditional pantomime plot work for the local family audience and light up these dark times with community spirit and merriment? Judging by the boos, cheers and exuberant singing from the unruly spectators, it does appear so.

Seasoned pantomime writer Susie McKenna uses this show to explore community, equality, climate change and kindness, as well as giving the audience a boisterous, inclusive ride along the way. She has penned the last two Broadway pantomimes and comes with an impressive panto pedigree spanning over 40 years. It’s 1948, and she starts the show with Dick and the ship’s cat aboard the Empire Windrush in search of the riches they have heard about in old London town. After arriving at Tilbury Docks following 30 days of sailing the Atlantic, they are met with a London that is smoggy and cold and told, “You don’t belong here…go back to where you came from.”

However, some people are welcoming and encourage in song the Windrush passengers to join them in rebuilding the city of their dreams after the damaging world war. Through luck and family connections, Dick and Uncle Vincent the Cat find themselves in Catford, where they encounter a load of Dick jokes and a plague of ambitious rats, instead of the expected streets of gold. The ensuing mayhem, introduced by the supporting characters of Aunt Sarah, the Queen Rat and the Alderman, complements Dick’s journey as he uses his wit and determination to overcome prejudice and malice from the rodent residents. In the end we get a lot of social comment, audience participation, enthusiastic song and dance, topical asides and several happy endings as Dick is made mayor and order is restored to the roads of London.

Award-winning director Peter Rowe (Boyband, Return to the Forbidden Planet) specialises in musical theatre and relishes giving his cast loads of room to enjoy their roles. He’s also having lots of fun with the smoke and wind machines, sound effects and choreographed ensemble pieces in this show. Musical direction falls to Ben Goddard-Young, who has written four of the songs and pulled together a talented group of rock musicians to play these and some timeless favourites. Glitter Pantomimes Limited has brought a wonderfully impressive painted set to this cavernous space. The stylised artworks hang from the high ceiling, bringing vibrancy and a surreal, cartoonish quality to the production. The Broadway does suffer with audibility due to its echoey acoustics, and at times it was a struggle to hear the dialogue above the music and the noisy, distracting audience. Unfortunately this means that some of the best wisecracks are lost along the way.

It all starts with a bang and lots of smoke as Lisa Davina Phillips (Sleeping Beauty, Porgy and Bess, The Lion King) enters the stage as Fairy Bowbells, dressed in glittery gold and tinkling bells, singing of how she has the job of watching over Dick as he progresses through his new life. Lisa’s kindly manner, twinkly persona and warm singing voice are ideal for this good fairy. She also demonstrates her versatility as she doubles up as the fairy’s sister, Octavia, clad in an impressive orange octopus costume, swaying and singing about the damage being done to the oceans. Durone Stokes (Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty, Dream Girls) takes the lead role as the enterprising and determined Dick, who arrives in London open to all possibilities, including love. Firm favourite Durone is a local boy and BRIT school alumnus who has appeared in the last two Broadway pantos in their lead roles. He is very much enjoying being the principal boy again in Catford and brings to the part a sense of earnestness and integrity as the gags, fights and insults fly around him.

Wayne Rollins (Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Sucker Punch) makes an explosive entrance as he transforms from a feline puppet into human form as Uncle Vincent the Cat under the wand of the good fairy. Wayne’s comic performance is fully Jamaican in exaggerated gestures, broad Patois, swagger and rhythmic flow. His dapper cat, with an enormous tail sprouting out from under his claret waistcoat, a goldfish tie and furry ears poking out of his felt hat, does an excellent line in twerking with a bad back.

Meanwhile Natasha Lewis (Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, The Boy in the Dress/Miss Littlewood) makes a cunning and wicked appearance as the villainous Queen Rat. She clearly relishes her role, as she cackles through the audience’s boos about her evil plans to take over the whole of London and then the world. Her costume is suitably all-black and sparkly, and she loves playing with her oversized fleecy tail as she delivers her sinister lines.

Actor and comedian Justin Brett (Showstopper! – The Improvised Musical, Million Dollar Quartet, Jack & the Beanstalk) returns as the panto dame, this time as Sarah the Cook. As an award-winning improviser, this gal is given free rein to dive into the audience and joke around with the dads. Justin delivers a rock and roll performance, edgy and packed full of innuendo with plenty of Dick gags and allusions about Sarah’s sex life. As the dame, he gets to wear some fabulous frocks and say outrageous things with a wry smile. Ben Fox (The Commitments, Backbeat, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) has great physicality in his role of hapless store owner, ship’s captain and councillor Alderman Fitzwarren. He is red-cheeked, pie-in-the-face funny and delivers some marvellous pratfalls as he clowns around the various silly setups for his character. His stage daughter, Alice Fitzwarren, is played by the very smiley Fergie Fraser (Mean Girls the Musical). As Dick’s love interest, she bounces along with her moral compass and sense of adventure. The cohesive ensemble that supports the principal cast and the animal puppets are well-choreographed and enthusiastic. In particular, Conor Luke Drury, playing the creepy, ill-disguised member of the rat gang called Nigel Fartage, delights the young audience members with his constant guffs courtesy of the enthusiastic sound effects team.

All in all it’s an entertaining and riotous show with plenty of bangs for your buck, topical gags and pun-tastic prose brought to you by a colourful and lively motley crew of purr-fect panto players and puppeteers.