Frostbite, Who Pinched My Muff
The Garden Theatre at The Eagle • 3 December – 10 January (No performances 23, 24, 25, 26, 31 December)
It’s that time of year again, and after the last 12 months this Jack The Lad was more than ready to immerse himself in the revelries of Frostbite, Who Pinched My Muff, a bawdy, camp adult panto that has managed to bring 2020 to a close with a large dollop of much needed festive fun, served with a side order of smutty innuendo and a glorious dash of filth. (Not the ‘substantial meal’ the government had in mind I’m sure, but a feast to behold nonetheless). Oddly enough, this production also happened to be a collaboration between two recurring presences of my new-normal life in lockdown that have been keeping me, and no doubt many others, entertained throughout the pandemic.
It will come as no surprise to regular readers of our theatre reviews that one half of this collaboration is Lambco productions, (given the regularity in which their name pops up in our theatre reviews), and in a year where we expected to be completely bereft of theatrical productions in any shape or form, the team at Lambco are not only to be commended for bringing the first theatrical production back to the UK stage earlier this year, (almost as soon as the COVID restrictions were sufficiently eased) but they somehow also managed to pull another four incredible productions out of the bag since the summer of 2020, despite the interruption of two lockdowns and the ongoing social distancing restrictions that followed. All these have been performed at their newly established home at The Garden Theatre at The Eagle in London’s Vauxhall. If this isn’t reason enough to get yourself along to see this hilarious festive treat, then it’s also worth noting that the show has been written by Gareth Joyner, who’s alter ego Myra DuBois has been my second saving grace of lockdown, at first appearing as the hilarious host and sometimes performer in a number of the Phoenix Arts Club’s innovative weekly Facebook Live broadcasts that brought cabaret acts into our homes when the venue was no longer able to keep its doors open during the beginning of the COVID crisis. Myra then went on to dominate our proper telly-screens having got all the way through to the semi-finals of Britains Got Talent. Alas, Gareth Joyner’s connection to this production of Frostbite doesn’t stretch to appearing in the show itself, but needless to say I was more than intrigued to see the results of this hitherto unexpected, but much anticipated collaboration that seemed a more than fitting way to end the strangest of years.
It’s not difficult to predict the tone of the humour on offer given the title, and sure enough it wasn’t long before I, along with the rest of the audience, all found ourselves shouting ‘Stick your hands in your muff!’, at the top of our voices. Well…there’s a first time for everything! Whilst audience participation might be a recognisable trope of the more traditional fairytale pantomime, Joyner has chosen to write an original story for this production, albeit populated by recognisable Panto-esque characters we find residing in the ‘generically germanic town of Vauxhallen’. (An early indication of how the story has been well tailored to its audience). First to appear on stage is the good Fairy Snowflake (Kingsley Morton) who sets the scene ahead of the arrival of the bad Demon Frostbite, (Nathan Taylor), who is on a mission to turn the towns innocent souls to evil by way of his magic mirror. Cue much malevolent laughter from the villain and plenty of boo’s (or should that be booze) and hisses from the socially distanced, mask wearing audience. Despite the restrictions that the theatre has to operate under, there were still plenty of opportunities for seated audience participation as the story progressed with the appearance of Lumiukko, (James Lowrie) who, being made of snow, introduces himself not as a snowman or a snowboy, but as a ‘snow person’, politically correct tongue firmly in cheek. He is followed by the not so politically correct Dame Herda Gerda, (Dereck Walker) our superb pantomime dame for the evening, alongside her son (with a secret) Garbo, (Shelley Rivers) The Bergermeister Kai, (Tom Keeling) and his daughter Greta (Bessy Ewa) who is looking, it eventually transpires, in all the right places for love. The whole ensemble bring an incredible energy to their roles, effortlessly bouncing off each other (metaphorically speaking of course) and appearing to have as good a time on stage as the audience was clearly having in watching the events unfold.
Robert McWhir’s direction makes great use of the limited space, whilst David Shields design and Richard Lamberts lighting also help expand the stage by creating an enchanting winter wonderland around it, something many in the audience, myself included, will have greatly appreciated during these increasingly grey winter days of lockdown.
Panto, more than any other form of theatre, relies heavily on the participation of it’s audience, members of which I have found can generally be broken down into three categories. The ‘less-than-enthusiastic’, who are usually dragged along by someone else, the ‘enthusiastic’ who are there simply to have a damn good time, and the worryingly ‘over enthusiastic’ whose interruptions, often alcohol induced, tend to hinder rather than help the otherwise good-time atmosphere. Unfortunately tonights audience included a couple determined that their own unsolicited interjections would be heard throughout the evening. As irritating as this could have been I really have to congratulate the cast, not only for their already brilliant scripted performances but for reacting so skilfully to the aforementioned interruptions with smart and speedy ad-libs, especially an impressively quick-witted Dereck Walker, who helped keep the show on track and the audience fully on board. With Walker no doubt able to draw on his experience of playing various Dames, Widows and Ugly Sisters over the years, newcomer James Lowrie was equally impressive delivering his own asides and, being at the forefront of some of the more manufactured opportunities for audience participation, managed to showcase his own incredible wit and ability to ad-lib within the structure of the show, creating a number of unscripted laughs along the way and impressing with all the confidence of a much more seasoned performer.
Interruptions aside, and despite finding the ending somewhat abrupt in avoiding a big wedding finale that it felt like the last quarter of the show had been leading us towards, Frostbite, Who Pinched My Muff, is everything you could want from a festive adult Panto, and coming from the pen of Gareth Joyner, you can be sure there are going to be plenty of gloriously guilty laughs along the way. Give yourself a treat this Christmas and catch this camp cracker of a Panto before another lockdown dims the glorious glow of theatre lights once more. Runs until 10th January 2021
★★★★
You can find out more about Lambco Productions incredible battle to put live theatre back on stage during the global pandemic in the new issue of Jack The Lad magazine, out January 1st 2021.
Photography: NatLPho