Dick Whittington at DeMontfort Hall

 

Review by Paul Towers, 13/12/25

Dick Whittington by Imagine Theatre, additional script by Janice Dunn, Jarred Christmas & Jack Ballard

Directed by Janice Dunn

Produced by Imagine Theatre

At DeMontfort Hall til Saturday 3^rd January 2026

My second pantomime this weekend and my second Dick Whittington. Can you have too much Dick? Certainly not when you are at Leicester’s premier concert hall, DeMontfort Hall.

Returning to the hall is Imagine Theatre with the feel-good tale of an impoverished boy, Dick (Jarred Christmas) and his Beat Boxing Cat Boots (Hobbit) as they try to realise their dream of making it in London. Along the way they have to prove their worth to Alderman Fitzwarren (Richie Anderson) in order to win the hand off his daughter Alice (Rebecca Keatley). Jack’s mum, Sarah The Cook (Jack Ballard) does her best to support her son and help him out. Inevitably she just makes it worse.

The villain of the piece is the gloriously vile Queen Rat (Djalenga Scott) who is up against the saintly Fairy Bow Bells (Suzanne Shaw) who has to counter the regal attempts to thwart Dick’s aspirations and take over London with her swarm of ratty minions.

Dick and his Mum, ably assisted by the incredibly talented Boots, quickly have the audience in the palms of their hands and the squeals of delight from the (mostly) younger members of the audience was testament to how right this show is.

All the expected elements of pantomime are here including the water fight and the toilet roll shenanigans. Of course you have to expect to find some unexpected songs shoehorned into the narrative. But that’s half the fun.

The main cast are ably supported by an adult ensemble and a couple of teams of local junior dancers/singers

I was not expecting Richie Anderson to have such a nice singing voice and was a bit dubious about the inclusion of a beat boxing cat but it all worked incredibly well.

Dick Whittington runs at DeMontfort Hall until Saturday 3^rd January 2026. Grab a ticket for a fun filled evening of family frolics.

https://www.demontforthall.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Dick Whittington

 

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 4^th 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 4^th January 2026

Pics: Jonathan Pryke

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/