Beauty and the Beast review - Panto review by Riley Barn

This is my second review of a panto at the Torch and the last one left it with great expectations. It was funny and exciting with a dramatic element in its overall silly demeanour. As many people know pantos are a funny version of the original play so I expected just that and I got what I expected! This panto showed a new and interesting portrayal of the classic Beauty and the Beast with songs and effects that help grow the story in magnificent ways of comedy.

In this panto we have an evil fairy who curses our prince with a beastly form. Many years later our main character, Belle, is forced to live in his castle but eventually grows affection for the beast and helps to fight against the evil fairy. I loved watching this with my family, with its amazing characters with humorous personalities. It was something for adults and children to enjoy especially the inclusion of the Good Fairy who is just hilarious with some reality well placed jokes. The actors were perfect for their roles and characters like the Beast and the Evil Fairy show not only evil and vicious but also a soft caring side with genuine reasons for their actions. Every character is played to perfection with well written songs for those characters. The songs were a great way of getting the story across and with music to go along which was also perfect.

The special effects of this show were brilliant with amazing misdirection paired with the perfectly timed smoke or light created magical transitions along with an amazing set. There were multiple sets included in the show most of which included a stunning painted background and props that helped to show were the characters are but I only realised the size of the stage when the ballroom came in as you could see the entire stage decorated as a castle ballroom which gave a perfect room for one of the best dance and music numbers in the show.

I really enjoyed watching this show and I can safely say that if you wear a spotty suit your viewing pleasure will be much better.