Fill your boots with fast-paced panto fun
Puss In Boots – The Pantomime Circa Theatre, until December 23 and January 2-12 Reviewed by Sharron Pardoe
There were giggles and laughter as we entered Circa Theatre for the opening night of Puss In Boots – The Pantomime. A diverse audience of adults and children brought a lovely buzz of expectation and we weren’t disappointed.
For the kids, there were the wonderful characters, costumes and gags; for the adults, a night of carefully scripted and very funny lines which had us laughing until the end.
The play, written by the late Paul Jenden, was brought into the present day with the trends and political events happening in Wellington today.
They included the cycleway and Onzo bikes, a weasel on the loose at Zealandia, and Gareth Morgan’s dream to ban cats – very appropriate for Puss In Boots.
From the opening notes, director Susan Wilson kept the energetic and talented cast to a fast pace.
Enhanced by the choreography of Leigh Evans, there was no let-up for the actors, who had multiple roles.
Musical director Michael Nicholas Williams had some great voices to work with and added to the story with dramatic little intervals of musical, which we became more familiar with as the panto progressed.
Gavin Rutherford played poor widow woman Camilla Miller and with his impeccable comic timing and easy rapport with the audience, was a scenestealer.
But every actor played their part to perfection. Jonathan Morgan played a very feline Puss, manipulating his body into all sorts of cat-like poses.
King Justin (Simon Leary), a reference to Wellington’s mayor, played a bumbling but loving father. Down on his luck, he and the Millers, his feisty daughter Martha (Natasha McAllister), and Puss combine to outwit the nasty trolls out to destroy wonderful Welly.
In true panto fashion, we booed every time the trolls (Jeff Kingsford-Brown and Carrie Green) appeared, and at one point in the show every child came onto the stage as part of the plot.
There were some great little details. The monogram above the mansion door had a tree of life, oyster catchers and a poo emoji.
Pantos are a great Christmas tradition and Puss In Boots is a fun night out for everyone. Pack up the children and take them along.