On the tenth anniversary of panto at the Palladium, the production gave to me; belly aching laughs, beats from the past, Catherine Tate in the cast, a clip of Paul O’Grady warming hearts, and longing for a new surprise or three.
There is something truly magical about 2000 patrons coming together at Christmas to celebrate British tradition at the palace of variety, The London Palladium, and this year, ten years since the return of pantomime to one of Britain’s most iconic stages. As I took my seat, the excitement of what was to come took hold.
Proceedings began with a celebration of the comedy, chaos and fun that fuelled the last ten years of pantomime. A gentle “aww” swept across the auditorium as the late Paul O’Grady appeared onscreen. The projection screen rose and fell in a breakneck sequence unveiling set pieces from pantomimes past, each one bigger and bolder than before. The audience roared with excitement.
“With a warm hand on his entrance,” Clary sets the tone for the evening, his iconic queer quips sending laughter rippling through the room. And so begins the night; a variety show in fairytale drag, as it were.
Tate’s staple characters brought something genuinely fresh to the structure. In doing so, they held up an unexpected mirror to the rest of the piece and suddenly, the familiarity of the mainstay routines began to show its cracks.
“A decade should be a moment of evolution, yet Sleeping Beauty sits still. The Palladium panto remains a cherished staple of British theatre, but this anniversary season suggests it is time for something to change.”
A smile barely cracked itself open at the new additions to the Twelve Days routine, with only minor changes to the song, done to death at the Palladium by this point. The actors seemed to struggle to find energy as they scrambled about the stage with the props. I found myself yearning for something truly new in place of this tired skit. There was, however, an unexpected dose of genuine laughter when Clary accidentally sent a chain of Covid masks flying into the first rows of the stalls. An unintended source of laughter also came from Havers, who was manhandling a cut out of Donny Osmond as he struggled to prise it from the stage. It really is the little things sometimes.
One brilliant burst of energy that truly stood out was when Splish Splash rose from the Royal Baths and spilled into the auditorium with smoke filled bubbles. Bright set pieces and flawless choreography carried the number, a moment where the show simply gave in to joy for the sake of joy. There was no real rhyme or reason behind any of it other than a duck and bubble bath themed costume for Clary, and perhaps that is why it felt so delicious.
A pantomime at the Palladium is a whirling dervish of colour, joy, laughter and chaos. Each scene blurs into the next, each joke keeping the story just about alive, and before you know it, you have crash landed into the feather filled finale and it is time to go home.
An evening at the Palladium is always a gorgeous night of theatre, but this one felt a little lost somewhere between spectacle, story and a lingering sense of sameness. Ten years should be a moment of evolution, yet Sleeping Beauty sits still. The Palladium panto remains a cherished staple of British theatre, but this anniversary season suggests it is time for something to change.
There is no denying the Palladium Panto holds a unique power in British theatre. When it lands, it delivers unadulterated joy, the kind that makes its flaws feel forgivable.
Colin Cushion 
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