The strengths of the CADA presentation of Mother Goose as the Everyman Palace pantomime this year lie largely in the work of a notably bright and tuneful band led by musical director Eoin Nash.
Added to the voice and personality of Sinead Sheppard and enhanced by very attractive costuming by Patricia Mahon this might have been enough, given a decent chance, to make this production outstanding rather than just brash, noisy and clamorously entertaining.
This last is some achievement, as the script is unnecessarily convoluted and far too long. Writer Peadar Cox can manage slapstick, but satire or even comic emphasis is a foreign land to him to judge by this offering, and there are periods of actual tedium while developments have to be explained and characters exposed. The tradition of pantomime has to allow for all kinds of stunts and diversions, of course, but although director Catherine Mahon Buckly has assembled a talented and enthusiastic cast, the run of events is so loosely connected by the writing that these stay outside any narrative flow that might be established.
Perhaps it's time for pantomime in general - in Cork at least - to look again at the original material the writers purloin; a Ladybird course in fairy tales might set a crisp example of story-telling headlines to be followed while still allowing room for the spectacular. Here Patrick Murray's peppermint and candy-striped set design gives enough space for Maeve Kelleher's choreography - although again there is a tendency to fuss and overcrowd.
There's no reason for this: Mother Goose already has a lot going for it and has all the look of a really enjoyable, effervescent panto. A few cuts, a little adjustment to the amplification (let the music director do his job, in other words), a somewhat sharper demand for the scriptwriter and this could be a terrific production. - Mary Leland
Runs until January 16th
Pinocchio
An Grianán, Letterkenny
A wooden puppet with delusions of grandeur, Pinocchio has got to be (by far) the least sympathetic protagonist in popular fairy tale lore. Mischievous as hell and a habitual liar to boot, is it any wonder that generations of children have delighted in this cheeky anti-establishmentarian?
Judging by the warmth An Grianán's latest Christmas spectacular generated amongst a rapt audience of ankle-biters, the magic remains firmly intact.
Over the past five years, Donegal's premier theatrical venue has offered a series of beautifully produced seasonal spectaculars, a welcome alternative to the hackneyed panto option and a cherishable theatrical experience. Working again from a script by prolific Belfast writer and composer Paul Boyd, talented director Myles Breen turns Boyd's occasionally clunky piece into a choice slice of colourful entertainment, aided immeasurably by a first-rate production, one that deftly mixes intermittently hummable tunes with delicious eye candy at a cracking pace.
Guy Barriscale's compact, adaptable and subtly elaborate set offers the perfect arena for play; a particular stroke of inspiration is the inclusion of a short film (also created by Barriscale, tipping the hat to Ray Harryhausen's monster movies) detailing Geppetto's search for his errant son.
Suzanne Keogh's endlessly inventive costume design and Niall Cranney's vivid lighting up the ante further. No amount of lavish production values can compensate for an absence of imagination, but there's a wealth of talent delivering the goods here.
It would be churlish, then, to say that the staging occasionally threatens to overwhelm the performers, all of whom, to a fault, give it socks: Judith Roddy, her features largely obscured by a Commedia-style mask, excels as the eponymous piece of pine, while Pepe Roche, Russell Smith and Peter Gaynor gamely offer support in a variety of roles. The real star turn, however, comes from the endlessly versatile Aileen Mythen, who steals everything that isn't nailed to the floor in a half-dozen roles, all scene-stealers. She makes the show. And the show, little wooden pain in the backside and all, comes recommended. - Derek O'Connor
Runs until December 22nd, then at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght from December 27th.
