Theatre Review: Sleeping Beauty — The Pantomime (Circa Theatre, Wellington, until January 11)
A review of the annual panto at Circa — this year it’s Sleeping Beauty, by the now well established duo of Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford, and a wonderful ensemble, on until Jan 11. Take the family!
Sleeping Beauty — The Pantomime
Direction: Gavin Rutherford (written by Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford)
Circa Theatre; Circa One (November 15 – December 22 / January 2-11)
As with last year’s panto, Treasure Island, I can safely say, that two decades in, and maybe we’ve missed one or two, the Circa Pantomime is a staple of the family calendar:
This year, Sleeping Beauty is the element of a story arc for the Circa stalwarts to drape fresh gags atop. It’s a cast of mostly familiar faces now, and writers Leary and Rutherford are the new “old hands” of the Circa Pantomime. It’s been nice to see Leary return to more of a featured role, after being a bit of a backseat player since taking on the writing. He has such exuberance in his delivery, such obvious love for the form, and he and Kathleen Burns are a wonderful duo as fairies Day and Night, with Bronwyn Turei as the more villainous Dusk.
Each year, this established crew does an excellent job of bringing forward some emerging talent, of getting some of the regulars to take a backseat; Rutherford and Leary know how good their cast is though, and if someone is in a smaller role than the previous year they are still put to great use singing.
Many years ago, the singing was the weakest part of the show. Now it’s arguably the strongest. It’s really noticeable having Turei in a lead role, so often she’s been the team player jumping between costumes and characters to play two or more supporting roles, but as Dusk we get to hear her incredible singing voice front and centre and often in the lead, and she has real mana as she stalks the stage, soaking in the booing and subverting the audience’s attempts to scathe.
Jthan Morgan is now also so well established as the post-modern panto Dame. Morgan’s comedic timing is excellent, and along with Leary and Burns, there was some great improvisations and off-the-cuff comments the night I attended.
Look, I’ll drop this right here because I have to, and I’m not as a good at dancing around a subject as the pantomime players — this year’s show wasn’t quite as funny as previous ones, but I almost didn’t notice what felt, only after, like a lower joke quotient, because the singing and dancing is so strong, the general entertainment-factor so good, it really just did not matter. I might wonder if the storyline goes a little too far over the heads of the very young. We’re used to innuendo (not everyone gets it — not everyone is supposed to) but there’s a level of convolution here that feels like it might almost be a deterrent to the very young. A long first half in particular takes its time to start going somewhere.
But that’s the nit I have to pick. I still loved this production. I still thought every single person on stage was wonderful. And as Aurora, or the “Sleeping Beauty” of this production, more relative newcome Rachel McSweeney was fantastic. Natasha McAllister has, most often, played the “princess” roles across most of the last decade, and for this McAllister “uglies up” to play a dinosaur, and then gets the duckling-to-swan moment, but it’s more playful than the usual transformative moment. And this is what I love most about the Circa Pantomime of the 2020s. The new writing team, the new staple cast have both really understood the assignment on how to modernise the feel and flow of the form whilst forever revelling in the campness of it; a crucial part of any panto.
We don’t learn anything, as well we shouldn’t, but we are there for fun. And fun is had. And we need that more than ever right now. There’s a good recurring joke about Winston forever being the Deputy PM regardless of what year they’re in as they time travel. And maybe there’ll be more political jokes added as the season continues. It felt less festive than other pantomimes, and, again, maybe that’s a move. And it’s certainly no big deal.
We dragged our son along for what I imagine is the final time. He smiled. He clapped along, he appreciated it. But he’s a teenager now. He’s done well to stay interested for as long as he can. I imagine next year we’ll be there as a couple, no kids. And we’ll still want to go. We’ll still hope to be entertained. And we’ll likely come away, as we did this year, feeling great about things for a moment — time suspended, disbelief (nearly) suspended too, and the world out the window for a couple of hours as we bask in some good old fashioned fun. How could you ever stop recommending that?
I don’t intend to.
I’m so grateful to Circa for its commitment to the bit. And to all the players, technical support people, and the mighty musical director (and sole musical performer) Michael Nicholas Williams. Bravo Circa. Bravo Simon Leary and Gavin Rutherford. Bravo to all in the pantomime, and to all that keep going, year after year. See you next time eh!
