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Review: Rapunzel panto at Aberdeen Arts Centre is absolutely hair-larious

TaleGate Theatre Company brings magical performance of Rapunzel to Aberdeen with song, dance, water pistols, special effects and tennis balls, yes, tennis balls

TaleGate Theatre Company bring Rapunzel the panto to Aberdeen Arts Centre. Image: Facebook.
TaleGate Theatre Company bring Rapunzel the panto to Aberdeen Arts Centre. Image: Facebook.

Rapunzel is letting down her hair in Aberdeen and everyone is invited to the party.

The fun runs from curtain up to final bow in TaleGate’s panto at Aberdeen Arts Centre with never a dull moment in between.

This is the tight and polished performance audiences have come to expect from this theatre company and it was so good I saw it twice. Oh yes I did.

The energy levels never drop, the timing is nothing less than perfect and the laughs are thick and fast.

Cast of Rapunzel panto.
Rapunzel at Aberdeen Arts Centre with TaleGate Theatre Company. Image: Facebook.

A proper panto villain

Add to that lots of much-loved pop songs, chorus line back-up from Danz Creations, pyrotechnics and special effects that include one jaw-dropping moment with a flying broomstick.

No spoilers here but let’s just say when Queen Gothel, played by Megan Wright, sings Defying Gravity, she certainly makes the audience look up to her.

Megan provided a panto villain to be proud of, with a spine-chilling cackle and icy persona, while Melissa Buchan brought a sweetness to the role of Rapunzel and a fine set of pipes.

Xander Gordon is suitably dashing as hero Finn Flyer and his slow motion run around the auditorium chased by Max the horse to the Black Beauty theme tune is a stand-out moment.

Sarah Ord as Max the Horse, Caitlyn Louise Boyd as Chester and Philip Napier as Dame Nurse Nelly. Image: Aberdeen Arts Centre.

The cast may only be six strong, but their talent, projection and stage presence could fill a theatre four times the size.

Oh and they can sing too. All of them, really well.

Rapunzel provides one of several singing highlights with Never Enough from the Greatest Showman, and Queen Gothel provides another with When You’re Good to Mama from Chicago.

An ensemble rendition of (I Can Buy Myself) Flowers by Miley Cyrus had the audience dancing in their seats, if not quite the aisles, at the Sunday matinee.

A scene from the Rapunzel panto at Aberdeen Arts Centre.
Rapunzel has singing, dancing, laughs and colourful costumes. Image: Aberdeen Arts Centre.

Caitlyn Louise Boyd gives a skilled and charismatic performance as Chester, deftly handling other panto traditions slapstick and tongue twisters.

Her timing and physical comedy moments are flawless and she provides the perfect foil for her mammy, Dame Nurse Nelly, played by Philip Napier.

Philip is outstanding as the dame and his hilarious performance is one of the reasons I happily returned a second time.

Rapunzel panto characters at Aberdeen Christmas Village.
The cast during a walk around Aberdeen’s Christmas Village. Image: Facebook.

Any proper panto works on several levels and with Rapunzel, the script is more sprinkled with political satire and social commentary than double entendre, which the audience seemed to appreciate judging by the laughter.

What really makes this panto sparkle though are the strong voices and smatterings of Doric.

All the characters deploy such wonderfully rich accents they could be reading the What’s On leaflet from the foyer out loud and it would still be entertaining.

Sarah Ord uses north-east twang to great comic effect as Max the Horse, with lines like: “Wanted deid or alive,” and “He’s nay a prince at a’.”

Her facial expressions throughout are very funny, and on a par with animated character Maximus, the horse in Disney’s Tangled, which must take some doing for a human!

Chester, Rapunzel, Finn Flyer, and Nelly dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo wander in the woods in a scene.
Chester, Rapunzel, Finn Flyer and Nelly dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo wander in the woods. Image: Aberdeen Arts Centre.

As an extra treat after the show, the audience is invited to have their photographs taken with the cast and post the pictures on the Arts Centre’s social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Rapunzel is at Aberdeen Arts Centre, King Street, until December 24, 5.30pm with 1pm matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets £19 standard, £18 concession, £15 child, £62 family of four, plus booking fee.

Visit www.aberdeenartscentre.com

Call 01224 635 208.

Email: info@aberdeenartscentre.com

Watch: Rapunzel at Aberdeen Arts Centre

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