Well, the Aberdeen panto this Christmas season has delivered again. Oh yes it has.
Writer Alan McHugh and his team continue to produce as safe a bet as you’ll get at His Majesty’s Theatre, and we’re lucky to have them.
This Christmas it’s Sleeping Beauty, though as ever in panto – especially those written by McHugh – the plot is a secondary consideration.
As writer and Nurse Nellie MacDuff, McHugh is obviously the glue that holds everything together.
However, this year’s star attraction is Gary: Tank Commander, who despite finding himself in a Brothers Grimm fairytale, never manages to step outside the character we know and love him for.
Well-kent panto faces back in Aberdeen for Sleeping Beauty
Well-kent face Paul J Corrigan of River City fame is back as Slimeball, as are Aberdeen’s own Danielle Jam as The Spirit of Pantomime and Michael Karl-Lewis as the Prince.
It should go without saying by now, but the costumes, scenery, music, effects are all superb.
But it’s the people that make panto and the cast, particularly Nurse Nellie and Gary, are genuinely laugh-a-minute.
The odd gaffe becomes just part of the show with chaotic humour, at times clearly improvised.
One skit in particular descends into ridiculous, unscripted tangents – you’ll know when you see it. The P&J gets a cameo, by the way.
Panto is a very British tradition, but at HMT it’s as Scottish as you’ll get, with thick Glasgow and Edinburgh slang and as always a heavy dash of Doric.
Childishness, risqué humour, and the Fergie hairdryer – something for everyone
Great entertainment for the kids, with some risqué humour for the grown-ups. Which is actually refreshing in these dismally sanitised times.
There’s enough seriousness and divisiveness in the world today, so the sheer childishness of certain scenes was therapeutic as it united the audience in laughter.
Glaswegians famously have to work twice as hard to capture Aberdonian hearts.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson needed to give Dons fans the greatest years in their history to overcome our native suspicion of central belters. There’s a hilarious nod to Fergie in the show, by the way.
But Aberdeen has taken McHugh and his Glasgow wit to its heart, and his HMT shows continue to sell out through the cold north-east winters.
Sleeping Beauty sees McHugh playing Dame in his adopted hometown for the 19th year.
With shows running until January 7, tickets are selling fast so you might want to get in there quick to get in on the fun.
Are you in our gallery from Sleeping Beauty at HMT?
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