[AD] Mother Goose is an action-packed adventure put together by a Derbyshire-based award-winning theatre company. Starring homegrown talent, Morgan Brind and Coronation Street villain, Todd Boyce catch the sparkling production at Derby Arena until 31st December.
Warning: this review contains spoilers. To keep the surprise, head straight to the Derby Live box office to book tickets.
One of my fondest festive memories is the annual pantomime trip with my family (more often than not to Derby Theatre in the old Eagle Centre back in the 80s!) so it was really exciting to take our daughter.
Before we went, neither my husband nor I felt particularly excited about the story of Mother Goose. Neither of us could remember the story and if it wasn’t for the very kind invite from the brilliant Derby City Council Marketing and Comms Team it wouldn’t have been on my radar beyond the usual listing in my festive what’s on guide. Well, more fool us!
A classic tale of rags to riches and the battle of good versus evil proved the perfect narrative for lots of traditional pantomime staples (such fun boo-ing the baddie), punctuated with catchy pop songs and energetic choreography.
Derby Arena
Located on Pride Park, Derby Arena is a velodrome, sports arena and multi-use indoor events venue. I’ve always loved its striking, Guggenheim-esque exterior, but hadn’t been inside before.
The spacious setting proved a brilliant venue. It’s easy to park, easy to access and had been thoughtfully decked out with some striking festive décor and several thoughtful photo opportunity places.
Mother Goose at Derby Arena
Firstly, the production is visually spectacular – from the gloriously technicolour, glittering set to the quite literally dazzling array of costumes – Mother Goose really is a treat for the senses. The set was every bit as good as anything I’ve seen in the West End.
In some inspired casting, the villainous lead role of Demon Vanity was played by Todd Boyce, Coronation Street’s serial killer, Stephen Reid. Boyce has also appeared in The Crown, Sherlock and Mr Selfridge plus a whole host of theatre productions.
But the real star of the show was Derby’s very own award-winning Dame, Morgan Brind playing Mother Goose herself. Brind was absolutely fab-u-lous in a dazzling array of show-stopping outfits, delivering some outrageously smutty jokes that had adults genuinely belly-laughing whilst successfully going over the little ones’ heads. Brind’s performance had a genuine warmth and real star quality.
Brind also wrote, designed and co-produced the production – clearly a bright talent. His company, Little Wolf Entertainment design, build and maintain the highest quality pantomime sets, costumes and props from their Little Eaton workshop.
Kristian Cunningham put in a stella performance as Benedict and Nicola Martinus-Smith offered a charismatic portrayal of Rosemary. In fact, the whole cast was brilliant.
I loved all the local puns – Derbados, Derby-girl (for a fabulous Barbie inspired finale) and the significance of Birds bakery.
However, in all honesty, for all the positives, we found the first half a bit too long. My six year old daughter’s attention waned, and my middle-aged body began to ache from being seated so long.
However, the second half was a rip-roaring extravaganza of brilliance. It was pretty much non-stop audience interaction from the off which delighted my daughter and even raised a few smiles from ‘grumpy Daddy’.
We were sprayed with water pistols, joined in a clever spin on YMCA and then marvelled at the bravery of some very special children who were invited to join the cast on stage. Golden confetti rained from the sky, X-factor style – and then giant inflatable golden eggs bounced around the theatre before hundreds of balloons were released.
We laughed, I cried, we boo-ed and cheered and danced… It was wonderful fun and absolutely recreated that pantomime magic I remember so fondly from my own childhood.
I would recommend this pantomime to anyone – it is brilliant!
Go for:
Good old fashioned family fun. All the best bits of a traditional pantomime in a fresh, contemporary and visually spectacular format.
Details:
Mother Goose runs until 31st December at Derby Arena.
Tickets from £26 for adults, £10 for Under 10s.
Ample car parking (on non-match days) at Derby Arena costs £3 for the panto which can be pre-booked with tickets or paid cash on the night. More info here.
Walking distance from the Derby train station.
Derby Arena is fully accessible and there are a range of different accessible performances.
