Potted Panto

Written by Alistair Coats | 20 August 2010

Seven panto stories are squeezed into 70 minutes of hilarity for all ages in Potted Panto, starring CBBC’s Dan and Jeff, who have had previous stage success with Potted Potter and Potted Pirates. Stories such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Dick Whittington and Snow White are each condensed to ten minutes, including rapid costume changes from the two energetic entertainers, who play every character.

Jeff plays the straight man to Dan’s craziness and there are plenty of jokes to please adults and children alike. Dan, who assumes it must be Christmas because that’s when pantos are on, is convinced that they should perform all the classic stories that can be seen over the festive period, like Goldfinger and the Queen’s speech. Jeff is very much against this, but for the final pantomime story Dan treats the audience to a few spectacular minutes of A Christmas Carol (on which he has clearly blown the whole budget of the show), until Jeff joins in assuming they are performing Aladdin, as planned. They both attempt to perform their own play in a very clever scene that splices the two stories together and is a fantastic finale.

The usual audience participation is involved, but with a twist, as Dan knows nothing about panto: he is astonished when we know to say “Oh yes it is”, and he fails to understand the “He’s behind you” section. It is these moments of confusion that make the pair so funny to watch, and when they try to perform with a recorded narration that suffers technical faults the results are hilarious. For a very funny and very silly show that the whole family will enjoy you won’t find better than this.

Pleasance Courtyard, 4-30 Aug (not 18, 25), 2.50pm