Godalming’s professional pantomime celebrates its 5th birthday with a lively production of Dick Whittington featuring songs, dances, a UV scene and TikTok-inspired house song.
Having moved from Godalming to the city, Dick Whittington find himself part of Fairy Bowbell’s battle against King Rat, who is trying to take over London town. Accompanied by his cat, Tabby, and mother, Dame Wilahamena Whittington, he quickly finds work in Alice Fitzwarren’s cheese shop. Cue a reworked version of Dolly Parton’s "9 to 5" with cheesy lyrics and an overly-long comedy sequence in which King Rat pretends to be a cheese inspector. In fact, cheese is such a common thread in the story that it is in pursuit of cheese that act two sees the cast undertake a sea voyage and land on the mystical island of Fromage.
With strong vocals and an easy air during dance routines, the hard-working cast of nine attack every scene with enthusiasm and buckets of energy. As King Rat, Martin Dickinson is a slimy character and his evil chuckle is an endearing touch; this works best when menacing the good, but the inclusion of Billie Elish’s "Bad Guy" jars with his old-school baddie delivery.
And as for the goodies? Well, they are squeaky clean. Rachel Warrick-Clarke is a saccharine Alice Fitzwarren and Ben Featherstone a very earnest Dick. There is unfortunately little chemistry, but their serious duets feature some beautiful harmonies even if the focus is pulled away from them towards the lyrical routines happening upstage. Although they both make the most of the comedy scenes, Warrick-Clarke is particularly animated and this Alice is certainly more than just a love interest.
As Wilahamena Whittington (she’s a silly willy), Matthew Peter-Carter is clearly having fun and will no doubt mature into a wonderful dame as his panto experience grows. Liv Koplick is a warm, cockney Fairy Bowbells and sparkles in act two with a turn as a Made in Chelsea-inspired island local. And finally, named Tabby rather than Tommy, Gina Elward is an expressive and athletic sidekick to Dick. The sequence in which Fairy Bowbells grants her a voice and convinces Dick to turn back to London is rather rushed, but Elward delivers Ava Max’s "Choose Your Fighter" with conviction, even if it is a rather confusing way to end the first act.
Ultimately, this story is very difficult to stage with such a small cast and, without an Alderman Fitzwarren, Idle Jack or chorus of rats, it feels incomplete. Elli Hosier, Natalie Daniel and Luke Mills are given plenty of opportunity to showcase their dancing prowess but are generally used as back-up dancers rather than integrated into any scenes. Many of the jokes and set-ups are laboured (even for panto) and the often expansive blocking does not complement the small stage that could have benefited either from an apron stage or action placed in the auditorium itself—with wide side and centre aisles, this was a missed opportunity.
On this particular performance, there were several mic issues that meant the opening of some numbers were weak, leading to a startling level of sound at the chorus. Aspects of the slapstick regularly fell flat, sending mixed messages to the young audience—the rabbit in the bench scene, for example, was far from scary and in a skin that was see-through under the lights so the regular costume of an ensemble member was clear to see.
With odd musical choices, patchy sound and lighting and inconsistent pacing, Dick Whittington is an uneven production that contains all of the right ingredients but unfortunately doesn’t rise to the occasion, despite the best efforts of the talented cast.