Robin Hood – Lighthouse, Poole – review

Lighthouse, Poole – 9 December

Review by Liz Turner

When it comes to pantomime, this production of Robin Hood has got it all. The hero and the beautiful heroine, the baddie and his incompetent sidekicks, the fairy godmother and the dame.

Add some messy slapstick, get the audience singing along and doing silly actions, lots of  ‘it’s behind you’, a ghost and even flying from Robin Hood and you have the recipe for the perfect family show -oh yes you do.

Tom Bright returns to Lighthouse for the third year to write and direct the panto. The multi-talented Tom is also playing Friar Tuck and Gladys Windybottom, a dame from the Les Dawson school.

Neil Smye and Dan Looney are hilarious as the sheriff’s henchmen.  Now established as panto favourites in Poole, they were adored by the audience.

CBBC presenter Ed Petrie is a dashing Robin Hood and had a brilliant rapport with the children who joined him on stage for the sing along.

Alicia Woodhouse is delightful as Maid Marion and Stephanie Walker is the sparkliest fairy I’ve ever seen – a real winner with the girls.

However the biggest cheers are for Games of Thrones and War Horse actor Patrick O’Kane as the Sheriff of Nottingham. A perfect pantomime baddie – great to boo and hiss but not scary for the younger members of the audience. The children loved to hate him.

Perhaps Robin Hood as a panto doesn’t have the best story line but there’s plenty to make up for this. There’s a wonderful toy land scene, ballet and Irish dancing, magic tricks, acrobatics, silly jokes, sword fighting and of course, a fairy tale wedding.

With strong performances from the children playing Jack and Jill, endless energy from the dancers and songs that the audience know – including 1D, Taylor Swift and the ever popular favourite Truly Scrumptious, all that matters is that there is a happy ending.

This panto has a magical feel good factor and the excited voices of families leaving the Lighthouse makes it clear that Robin Hood is right on target to be another Christmas cracker.

Robin Hood continues until 4 January 2015.

Captioned performances:
Tuesday 30 December at 3pm
Friday 2 January at 7pm

Audio Described performances:
Tuesday 30 December at 7pm
Friday 2 January at 3pm

Relaxed performance:
Tuesday 16 December at 1.30pm

Relaxed performances are open to everyone, but the environment has been specifically adapted for families with children with an Autistic Spectrum Condition, individuals with sensory and communication disorders, those with learning disabilities and anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment.