This time of year is exciting for a lot of people. Not only is Christmas around the corner, but many are looking forward to a well-deserved break. For others, however, it means that the pantomime is back in town! This year, Janice Honeyman and the gang bring us the tale of Sleeping Beauty.
It’s the story we all know and love, a princess is cursed on the day of her Christening by a wicked fairy. On her 18th birthday, the Princess Aurora-Adora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. But our Good Fairy Floradora Daisy offers some hope – she changes the spell to ensure that the princess won’t die, but will fall into an enchanted sleep for one hundred years from which she will only awake if kissed by the one she loves, Prince Harry Hunkador the Handsome!
I’ve never been a big fan of the pantomime. There are too many try-too-hard-to-be-funny jokes and the product placement eats at my soul but this year is the most I have ever enjoyed the panto. As with any panto, however, there are a lot of things wrong and a lot right.
Lets start with the good. Tobie Cronje is back. After a two-year break, the actor returns as Dame Nora Nursey – Aurora’s nanny. He is just hilarious and his performance had the audience in stitches throughout the entire show. The chemistry between the cast was really great as well which made a huge difference to the delivery of the show. One of the most brilliant characters in the show and one to look out for is Clive Gilson’s character Jester Cracker-Jack. He adds so much character to the show and brings out some great moments for many other characters.
The wicked fairy, Kakkamella Khakibos, played by Michelle Botha, was so great as well. She played her role with so much passion and there was so much interaction with the younger audiences – who clearly hated her guts! Naturally, every story needs its hero and Christopher Jaftha was perfectly cast as Prince Harry Hunkador the Handsome. He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand and many teenage girls were swooning over the hero – not only because of his good looks, but because he brought his character to life and gave the audience a constant feeling of hope.
However, Chris struggled musically. His vocals often fell flat and he battled with the high notes. This hampered his performance, but his great acting more than made up for it. His princess, Aurora-Adora, played by Nicole Fortuin gave a decent performance but it was far from a memorable one. Luckily, most of the story occurs when she was asleep.
The pantomime is known to entertain both the younger and older audience. There were often times where the jokes were below the belt which was great, however, this year, the jokes were a bit inappropriate – I even heard the word ‘poes’ being said. Sure, they were talking about a cat but it was completely unfitting. I was also disappointed with a few characters. On opening night, Candida Mosoma’s character Good Fairy Floradora Daisy was played by the understudy who gave a mediocre performance at best and became irritating towards the end of the show. Maaikie Mouse, Miemsie Mouse and Mapantsula Million got tons of laughs but didn’t fit into the story at all. (I mean, a minion? Come on!)
Every pantomime ends with a sing-a-long and this year’s edition was so much fun! The song was sung to the tune of Silentó’s smash hit ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae). I have never seen so many kids and adults doing their bit to smash the popular dance. It definitely put everyone leaving the show in the best mood.
Overall, the show was fun, smart and funny as hell. It is one of the better pantomimes of the past three years and I definitely recommend that everyone heads out to the Joburg Theatre and watch the show. Now we wait for 2016’s Robin Hood pantomime to blow us all away.
The show is on from now to December 30th and tickets range from R215 – R340. Bookings are exclusively through www.joburgtheatre.com or by calling 0861 670 670.
Feel free to comment, share or tweet @ElBroide
