Tezza's Theatre Place

Up at the Palladium, you will find the ultimate in family Christmas entertainment. With a huge budget, huge sets, an orchestra and more stars than there are in the heavens. Yes, it’s panto time and  Goldilocks and the Three Bears  are safely ensconced until January. However, a stone’s throw from the LP, is another panto. It’s smaller, has fewer star names and, as they themselves say, little budget. But going by my visit to the Karma Sanctum Hotel, to see  Jack and His Giant Bigstalk , I think I know which of the two pantos I prefer. In the village of Doggin On the Hill, Dame Trot (Edward Denny) lives with her son Jack (Alex Guersman). Jack is the epitome of a pantomime hero – handsome but a trifle dim. Not the brightest of individuals, he makes up for it by being a loving son to Dame Trot and a wonderful best friend to Daisy the cow (Ben Felton/Alex Reid). He is also a young man who has noticed stirrings in parts of his body and a fluttering in his heart, especially w...

There’s not many things that get me travelling out to West London in the early hours of a rainy Wednesday morning, but sometimes, the reviewer’s life means sacrificing sleep so that you can get to the Lyric Hammersmith in time for a 09:30 performance of  Father Christmas . Based on the 1973 book written and drawn by Raymond Briggs,  Father Christmas  tells the story of the man himself from the moment he is dragged out of his sleep on the morning of the 24th December until he finally gets back into bed on the evening of the 25th. Now, this is not the jolly Santa shown in so many adverts. Oh no,  Father Christmas  is an old man who is, well let’s not beat about the bush, a bit of a curmudgeon. He lives in a fairly ordinary house with his cat, dog and two reindeer and you get the feeling he is less enthusiastic about Christmas Eve than the majority of the world. Still, he is nothing if not a professional, and deep down he does still love his job, and so he dons...