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Review by Paul Towers, 12/12/25
Dick Whittington devised & written by
John Bale
Directed by John Bale
Produced by Leicester Drama Society
At The Little Theatre til Saturday 4th
January 2026
Christmas has officially started with The
Little Theatre’s annual pantomime under way. This year’s offering is the
evergreen tale of Dick Whittington, the almost true story of how a lowly man,
Dick, trudges to London to find his fortune and ends up as Lord Mayor. Well,
that’s the accepted story. Of course pantomime is not about the truth if it gets
in the way of lots of fun.
Our Dick Whittington (Rose Adams) and his cat,
Tommy, (Lyd Rushton) start their journey and soon meet the outrageous Alderman Sarah
Fitzwarren (John Bale in his latest Dame incarnation) and her daughter Alice
(Ellie Cassie), with whom he falls instantly in love.
The Alderman has a sidekick, Idle jack (Thom
Jones), whose energy is only outstripped by his idiocy. The villain of the
piece is the evil King Rat (Simon Butler) who is determined to take over London
for his own nefarious ends.
For reasons that make little sense (this is
panto, it doesn’t need to make sense!) they all set sail on the Saucy Sue for
Morocco with Captain Cockle (Allen Smith) and Bill Cockle (Russell Webster) and
get shipwrecked.
All sorts of extra characters are played by an ensemble of singer/dancers
choreographed by Caroline Walsh.
All this is explained to the audience by the
exotic Spirit of The Bells (Keiran Wheelan-Newby) in traditional rhyming
couplets.
Right from the start the Alderman and Idle
Jack have the audience in the palms of their hands and the booing, hissing and
behind you’s are on cue. The largely junior audience members had a whale of a
time, which is as it should be. Pantomime is often a youngster’s first
experience of live theatre and this most traditional of pantomimes is a perfect
introduction.
Dick Whittington runs at The Little Theatre
until Saturday 4th January 2026
Pics: Jonathan Pryke
https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/
https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/
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