Beauty and the Beast – Gala Durham

Writer: Gary Kitching

Director: Rachel Glover

Billed as a magical reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, a willing and appreciative audience was transported into a world of magic, music and merriment as Gala Durham marked the start of the festive season with their annual panto.

The pantomime brings a mix of new and locally familiar faces to the production with Beth Crame (Alice in the theatre’s 2023 summer production) playing Belle, Jude Nelson returning for her third year, this time as wandering minstrel/court jester Jongleur, and Kieron Michael (Hook in the Summer production of Peter Pan & Wendy) as lovable baddie Gourmand. All three embodied their characters with energy and great enthusiasm, in particular Michael, whose larger than life Gourmand revelled in the boos he received from the audience and pranced around the stage showing his (somewhat questionable) muscles off whenever he could. His Parklife/Here Comes the Sun mash up was fabulous, with clever changes of some of the lyrics by writer Gary Kitching.

Zoe Lambert stepped into the multiple wigs and neon costumes of Belle’s Aunt, Madame Perplexe, essentially the Dame character. Lambert played evil witch Karen in the 2022 offering of Sleeping Beauty, but this was something a little different. She worked hard with some physical comedy and a lot of ‘I’m so confused/aren’t I silly’ routines, but it was very one note and didn’t really seem to go anywhere. A back story or reason that she was confused all of the time would have been useful, but she’s there almost as a Sue Pollard-esque side kick to Jongleur, rather than the other way around. Would the part have been funnier with a man playing the Dame, making the requisite jokes about wanting to find a man? Possibly, although it was more the character that was a problem, as opposed to the actor.

Sarah Bulmer as Madame Horloge and Adam Donaldson as Monsieur Brillant were a masterclass in timing and making the absolute best of every line. They were both very strong, with voices and French accents that were en pointe and a real warmth between them. They exuded professionalism and were a joy to watch. In particular, Bulmer with her fantastic facial expressions, wobbly wig and clock like mannerisms, shone throughout.

There was a fair amount of ad libbing and fluffing of lines, but the cast were all quick to help each other out and to playfully tease each other when this happened – you can definitely get away with a bit of that in panto, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.

Costumes and set were traditional but very well executed. The scene changes were swift and a range of backdrops were used to excellent effect, some of these changes were completed partially by the ensemble, a small but mighty team of excellent singer-dancers. They had many quick changes and different characters to embody, from Madame Perplexe’s company in the dungeon at the Beast’s castle to a variety of woodland creatures, including the most flamboyant seagull you ever did see (seagulls in the forest? It’s panto, why not?).

The only slight let-down was the Beast’s costume – it was a bit less beast and a bit more werewolf, the sort of costume that looks to have been made up of various bits of other costumes. The wig didn’t quite match the beard and the gloves were different again. The mask generally obscured any facial expressions, though the good news was that Suryan Hadrick’s strong singing voice could be heard brilliantly through it, which is often a problem with such costumes.

This is definitely a reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast story. Don’t go expecting traditional characters and a storyline that sticks closely to the Disney version, but it works well and this is a strong start for a panto that deserves to get full houses over its run until the end of December.

Runs until 31st December