Potted Panto

Potted Panto photos

Potted Panto description

Potted Panto squeezes seven classic pantomimes into 70 minutes, performed by two people.

The show takes the best-known stories in the pantomime canon and runs them end to end at speed. Audiences rub Aladdin's lamp, walk the golden streets of Dick Whittington's London and make sure Cinderella reaches the ball, with costume, character and plot changing every few minutes. Much of the comedy comes from the gap between what the stories demand and what two performers can physically manage. It plays straight through with no interval and carries an age recommendation of six and over.

The production had its West End premiere at the Vaudeville Theatre in 2010 and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. It has returned to London almost every Christmas since, which makes it the West End's longest-running pantomime. The Guardian called it "so silly it's just one long joke... featuring a 3D journey to nowhere but tear-inducing laughter", The Times reported that "the hordes of children fall around with delight at the mixture of sarcasm and slapstick", and the Daily Telegraph described "a show full of enjoyably terrible jokes, manic costume changes, buckets of poo and a spirit of anarchic goodwill".

The show is written by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner and Richard Hurst, and directed by Richard Hurst. Set design is by Simon Scullion, costume design by Nicky Bunch, lighting design by Tim Mascall and sound design by Tom Lishman.

Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner perform the show themselves. Both are former CBBC presenters and double Olivier nominees, and they also created Potted Potter, which compresses all seven Harry Potter books into 70 minutes and has played in the West End, in New York and on international tours, as well as Potted Sherlock.

Seven pantomimes, 70 minutes, two performers: book tickets for Potted Panto.

Playing at Apollo Theatre

31 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES GB (venue info)

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