Louche ⦠Dickie Beau as the dame, with Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings as Dick Whittington. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
Christmas might be cancelled, but they canât take away our pantomimes. Or not the National Theatreâs at least, which is offering up its second ever panto online â free of charge even though it has only just launched its paid-for streaming service.
It is a generous, feelgood gesture, perfectly suited to this can-do story about a man and his street-smart cat. An updated revival of Jude Christian and Cariad Lloydâs song-filled show, which premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2018, it takes some sideways glances at the pandemic and fires the odd broadside, but does not get too bogged down by the depressing realities.
The National Theatre: Dick Whittington | Review
December 24, 2020 Last updated:
December 24, 2020
Put it this way – the National Theatre hasn’t done pantomime for a long time, and it shows. They did well to avoid celebrity casting, and while their efforts were honourable in their tribute to each and every other theatre in the country whose pantomimes have been postponed for a year (or even cancelled altogether for certain venues that have permanently closed their doors), it was like watching the England football team in the knock-out stages of the World Cup: they gave it their all, for sure, but it just didn’t turn out as well as it could have done.