Victoria Scone and River Medway lead the King’s Head Theatre panto this Christmas, in both the family show and its adults-only twin. Tickets start at £15.
Victoria Scone and River Medway will star in Dick Whittington and His Cat at the King’s Head Theatre from 22 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Tickets are on sale now from £15, and the same pair also lead Dick Whittington: Adults Only, the grown-up version running 26 November to 2 January.
Scone returns to the theatre as Dragpus after playing Dame Trott in last year’s Jack and the Beanstalk; she was the first contestant assigned female at birth to compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and led Acid’s Reign at the Pleasance and in Edinburgh this year. Medway makes her King’s Head debut as Queen Rat, most recently having played Jem on the tour of Here & Now: The Steps Musical, a role she originated in Birmingham.
Medway said panto is familiar ground: “I made my panto debut at ten years old in my hometown in Kent and have been in love ever since... I’ve been a villager, a prince – rude! – and a dame, but never a villain.”
Andrew Pollard writes and directs for a third year, after Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk, having won Best Writer at this year’s UK Pantomime Awards. “Panto at the King’s Head is a very special thing,” he said, “perfect as a child’s first introduction to panto, as the venue is intimate and the children can really get up close to the action.” He is joined by Nicky Bunch on set and costume, George W. Parris as musical supervisor and director, Alex Lewer on lighting and Anna Smart on sound.
The theatre’s Golden Bells Pay It Forward scheme returns, funding free tickets for local schoolchildren. More than 2,250 have attended free over the past two years, and the Cinderella appeal alone raised £4,820, covering 855 school places. The theatre also works with the Mayor of Islington’s 11 by 11 scheme.
Both productions have a Pay What You Can performance, with the family show’s on Wednesday 25 November at 6pm. Family tickets for two adults and two children are £120 on Bands A to C, and groups of six or more save 15 per cent on the adults-only show; both offers run until 30 September. Further casting is to be announced.
Dick Whittington and His Cat runs at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, from Sunday 22 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with a press performance on Sunday 29 November at 1pm. Dick Whittington: Adults Only runs from Thursday 26 November to Saturday 2 January, with its press performance on Friday 27 November at 7pm.
