REVIEW

Lorna Sigginsreviews Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

A RATHER chauvinistic prince is seeking a mate through a medieval version of Cilla Black's Blind Date,and falls foul of the witch Azaria. Author and actor Peter Kennedy makes much use of popular television themes in his script for this year's 30th-anniversary Renmore Pantomime in Galway, complete with a Catherine Tate "am I bovvered?" character.

The cast, largely drawn from the Galway city community, is joined by some more familiar faces, including Zimbabwe-born Lucia Evans. Best known as the national winner of RTÉ's You're a Star in 2006, she cackles her way through the plot, relishing every "hiss" and "boo" that comes her way.

There's no shortage of fat men in women's clothing for her to taunt either, with Shane Lennon's and John McHugh's delightfully devious goons, Lou Rolls and Bogdanovich Rolls, vying for bust size and wobble with James Harris's Prince Potty Peter and Kennedy's Dottie Dolly.

"Sausages!", the audience's mantra issued by the blue-rinse potty prince, evinced an "I'm hungry!" wail from the back of the auditorium on the opening night. And the same young theatre goer appeared to be overwhelmed by the plethora of boybland/girlbland numbers in the production. "It's too loud for me," he cried, as his mother tried her best to protect him from a dearth of modulation.

These You're A Star/X Factor sequences may be designed to keep a younger section of the cast happy, but the participants actually seem more relaxed with the more "mature" rock'n'roll and Uncle Remus zip-a-dee-doo-dah favourites.

Caoimhe McClafferty plays a sweet Belle, who is punished unmercifully but hilariously by her sister, Dolly, when she fluffs a line. The script, including a shameless reference to a major fast-food supplier (and sponsor), is a little short on political barbs, with Fás and first-class-flight hairdos being an obvious target.

Adrian Flatley's seamless musical direction is complemented by Cherie Worthington-Eyre's choreography, while Antoinette Casserly tutors the teeny-tiny Renmore Smurfs.

Directors Brian and Seán Power know how to throw a good panto, complete with bags of sweets for the audience's star turn at the finale. No goodies reached rows B and C though - not even a sausage . . .

Until Jan 18

LORNA SIGGINS