Dick Whittington and His Cat

Synopsis

Pantomime about a boy and his cat who set off to London to make their fortune - usually with Dick's Brother (Idle Jack) and mother - there they usually meet Baron Fitzwarren and sail away to seek treasure. In some versions King Rat goes with them to steal the treasure, in others they reach a land infested with rats where they haven't heard of cats and Dick does a deal, returning home rich he becomes Lord Mayor of London. Based extremely loosely on a real person (Richard Whittington, 1350 to 1423), there is a statue of the cat outside the Whittington Hospital in North London where Dick is supposed to have heard the bells say "Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London" as he trudged away from the city. First recorded panto on this theme was in 1814.

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 10 December 2009

The delightful little theatre at Chipping Norton – a converted Victorian Salvation Army hall – is renowned for its simple traditional pantos, but new director John Terry’s offering of Dick Whittington this year is frankly a dog’s dinner.

London is suffering its worst recession since 1311, and a rat infestation, but the Fitzwarrens and their customers still advocate retail therapy, before setting sail on a trading expedition to Morocco on the Chippy Sark.

So far so good – though I’m not sure how Jason Langley’s likeable Dick came from Wychwood via Highgate – but although Ben Crocker’s written good lyrics for Thomas Johnson’s bouncy songs, his actual story line is thin and undernourished.

The London and Morocco scenes are feeble beyond belief. But there are good musical sequences when Emma Carroll’s Tommy the Cat hears the chimes of Bow Bells (splendidly evoked on piano by musical director Peter Pontzen, with Gemma Moore on sax and clarinet...

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