Mother Goose – Liverpool Empire

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Cal McCrystal

The character of Mother Goose first hit the UK Pantomime scene in 1806, in a production called Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg. Unlike other pantomimes that we may be more familiar with, Mother Goose is the only one in which the dame is the leading role, present in almost every scene and crucial to the plot. So, with that in mind, you’d need a pretty impressive actor with years of experience, a catalogue of outstanding performances and maybe a couple of academy awards under their belt to take on such a part as this. Thankfully, Sir Ian McKellen was available.

This particular production of Mother Goose has already delighted audiences in Brighton, Chichester, Sheffield, Wolverhampton and London but last night, it arrived for its first night at the beautiful Liverpool Empire Theatre. John Bishop, who plays Vic Goose, was the first to appear on stage and gave his hometown a wonderful, warm welcome and a hilarious introduction to the show. It was clear to see that this particular evening meant a lot to him and his connection to the city was mentioned several times during the show, which the audience lapped up with pride and delight.

John Bishop and Sir Ian McKellen are an unlikely pairing. You’d think a comedian would be intimidated playing the husband of a world-class actor however, Bishop was the perfect pairing to McKellen’s hilarious yet touching portrayal of Mother Goose. Their chemistry was electric and they balanced each other so well on the stage. Obviously, the production gave the audience a little taste of Sir Ian’s previous roles, a few Gandalf lines thrown in here and there for good measure. The audience is even lucky enough to hear some beautiful Shakespearian language from the man himself and even from a few other members of the cast. All of these moments were so truthfully delivered and never used for a cheap laugh, which went down an absolute storm with the audience.

Alongside McKellen and Bishop was an ensemble cast of outstanding talent. This is one of the best vocally skilled pantomimes we’ve seen in a long time and every single member of the cast shone, with not only their vocals but also their phenomenal dancing. Each member of the cast was given a moment to wow the audience and gave some hilarious yet heart-warming performances.

Anna-Jane Casey gave us a wonderfully comical Cilla the Goose and her performance of Don’t Rain On My Parade was one of the stand-out moments of the show. She gave us an all-singing, all-dancing goose and all in a pair of orange crocs. A truly incredible artist and one of the highlights of the production.

While this reviewer can’t flaw the outstandingly talented cast, there were a few moments where the sound quality really let the production down. The Liverpool Empire still hasn’t managed to balance the sound levels across the whole auditorium meaning that if you’re at the back of the stalls, it can sometimes feel as though you are watching the show from a different room. Some of the lines seemed muffled and towards the end of the show, you can clearly hear the sound crew still balancing the levels which distracted us from the performance on stage.

However, the cast never seemed to let this bother them and still managed to give us a truly wonderful show.

All in all, this pantomime is definitely worth a watch. With a star-studded cast, an outstanding ensemble and plotlines that every member of society can relate to, this relevant and modern take on one of the oldest and most traditional pantomimes is not one to be missed.

Runs until 4 March 2023 and on tour