Writer: Jonathan Harvey
Director: Cal McCrystal
You know when you go to a panto in mid-December and you suddenly get that first warm fuzzy feeling of the holidays? Well, turns out it doesn’t have to be Christmas for that to happen – it’s just as much an Easter thing this year with the arrival of Mother Goose at the Lowry.
So out of season and on the road since early December you’d think this starry show might have lost a bit of momentum – but there’s little suggestion of that as John Bishop wanders on stage to enthusiastic cheers and, as himself, delivers a few jokes and reminds us that this is panto and that we’re here to enjoy ourselves.
And then, we’re whisked to a colourful land of make-believe where Caroline ‘Mother’ Goose (Ian McKellen), husband Vic (John Bishop) and son Jack (Oscar Conlon-Morrey) own a shabby animal rescue shelter housed in a closed-down Debenhams. It’s a place full of love but they’re down on their luck and out of cash. When Cilla (Anna-Jane Casey), the magical golden egg-laying goose falls out of the sky, things are certainly looking a bit more positive. With their new found wealth the Gooses move to a bigger house (the Tower of London) but it’s not long before the bad fairy (Karen Mavundukure) turns up, promising anything Caroline wants in exchange for Cilla. Caroline, not content with riches, wishes to be famous.
Caroline is suddenly a star. She’s opening the World Cup and strutting the red carpet at the Oscars. Basically it’s a whole host of reasons for Ian McKellen to quick-change through an extensive wardrobe of fantastic outfits – but fame for fame’s sake, it transpires, is a bit miserable, and Caroline misses Vic, Jack and the animals. So off they all go to Gooseland to rescue the sad, imprisoned Cilla.
Jonathan Harvey’s new version of this classic panto is about as traditional as panto gets – there’s plenty of cheers and boos, lots of call and response and ‘behind you’ moments, sweet throwing, inflatable balls bounced around the stalls. There’s good fairy/bad fairy battles, a brilliant slapstick cake-baking scene, and some great musical numbers. And as you might expect, it’s all camp as… well, Christmas. What this show also does, though, is remind us how panto moves with the times. The jokes are bang up to date, from Boris’s parties to Queen Camilla. We even get to shout angrily at the energy companies.
With Harvey behind the script and McKellen at the helm, Mother Goose is an absolute celebration of camp. McKellen absolutely revels in it all, wears drag with aplomb (the pink baby-doll is a particular winner) and delivers some risqué jokes that go over the heads of the kids and absolutely hit home with the grown-ups. McKellen doesn’t quite steal the show though, despite an absolute outpouring of love from the audience from the moment he steps on stage, McKellen is a gracious actor who shares the stage, especially with co-star Bishop. They make a great double act as Caroline and Vic Goose, slipping in and out of character and poking fun at one another with jokes about acting school and scouse accents. Harvey can’t resist the chance to have McKellen deliver a bit of Shakespeare and his Shylock gets a huge cheer from the audience – but not as huge as the one Bishop gets when he launches into Sonnet no.18.
There are some great song and dance numbers from the whole cast, with everything from pop to stage musical classics. Money, Money, Money and One (from A Chorus Line) show off an all singing, all dancing cast, but particular note goes to Anna-Jane Casey for her fabulous rendition of ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ from Funny Girl which she delivers in top showgirl style while subsequently laying a golden egg.
Liz Ascroft’s sets provide a suitably colourful backdrop but it’s her costumes that really shine. From the fun animal costumes to McKellen’s extensive and exuberant wardrobe. A pink negligee, a beefeater inspired creation, a slinky catwalk evening dress. Best of all, though, a Ginger Spice Union Jack dress (but this one with the Union Jack on the front and the LGBTQ+ flag on the back).
You won’t be disappointed by Mother Goose. It’s essentially a wacky, wayward love-story all wrapped up in rude jokes, big song and dance numbers and a lot of people, on stage and off, having a lot of fun.
Runs until 9th April 2023
