It's Christmaaaaas! Are you celebrating with mulled wine at a Winter Wonderland, sipping on too much prosecco at your awkward work party, or cosying up on the sofa watching Christmas films? Well, this week my friends and I joined the celebrations by watching a Christmas Panto.
Yes, the pantomime season is upon us and London has quite a variety of performances on offer. Keeping it local, we purchased tickets for RVT's (The Royal Vauxhall Tavern) performance of 'The Comatose Beauty'. For those who are not familiar with Vauxhall as an area, it's most definitely the gay capital of London. Therefore this wasn't going to be a traditional pantomime, oh no this was a Christmas panto with a large helping of campness, drag, foul-mouthed language, filthy jokes and homosexual humour.
The venue: Located under the bridge next to Vauxhall station, RVT is a well-known gay bar / club and cabaret venue. There is nothing up market about this place. However, the friendly and welcoming clientele it attracts makes up for the small and simple room with a bar.
Seating was available at a few tables, with sofas located around the back of the room, as well as on bar stools dotted around the club. The venue was not set up as a theatre so many people stood for the performance. If you like the sound of this panto, best to arrive at least half an hour before the curtain goes up to try and grab a seat. The best thing about pantomimes is that the directors are able to take a tale and make it their own. Most of us are familiar with the usually simple plots that are easily understood by children. Not this one. Crude and crass jokes make for over 18's ears only!
In short....Sleeping Beauty is protected by her Muslim mother until she turns the legal age of 18. On her 18th birthday, Belle is tricked into attending a fake birthday celebration by the evil witch, Myra Du Bois. At her party, a roller disco, she is drugged by 'party juice' and falls into a coma for 100 years. Her Prince Charming eventually arrives to wake her from her dreams, when Belle, Prince Charming and Helestar seek their revenge on Myra Du Bois. Curtain call.
The cast:
The cast was made up of 6 characters:
Miss Mayoress of Vauxhall Town, Lorraine Bowen - a great MC. Her energetic piano playing and head banging singing was enough to make anyone laugh. The audience just loved her, especially when she had us singing Christmas carols in the interval! "Key change..."- Sharia Law - the drag queen mother of Sleeping Beauty. Her high-pitched voice, creepy face (mask) and giant split up her skirt made for an excellent overbearing and protective mother.
- Belle - a blonde afro, a glitzy leotard outfit and roller skates sums up RVT's Sleeping Beauty in drag.
- Myra Du Bois - the evil witch who tottered around in her leopardprint high heels, played the stereotypical baddie of the pantomime. When she wasn't trying to poison Belle, she would entertain the audience with some interesting magic tricks including a demonstration of how to swallow a very, very long balloon.....(Don't try this at home!)
- Miss Helestar - AKA the tranny with a fanny - playing the part of the fairy godmother, this lady certainly had a cracking pair of lungs. Belting out numerous songs, we were wowed by her vocal peformances.
- Prince Charming - a glorious vision in purple lycra shorts...
Overall rating:
In all honesty, this low-budget and amateur performance was brilliant!! There are four more shows this side of Christmas and if you're looking for something different to do in London, I would encourage you to book your tickets sharpish. However, don't go expecting a show with no hiccups. This panto is all about forgetting lines, missing cues, and telling the drunk in the audience to 'shut your mouth'. All of these things just add that little bit more fun to the evening.
