Dick Whittington

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:

27 November 2011

If you have never seen a traditional pantomime before then look no further than this season’s festive offering from the Oldham Coliseum. Dick Whittington reads like a tick list of all the essential ingredients for a good old-fashioned pantomime. Principle boy. Check. Evil villain. Check. Sword-fight finale. Check. But make no mistake, for all its slapstick and unscripted banter, this is another professional production with a decidedly local feel from this highly acclaimed venue.

Dick - the protagonist, of course, hails from Oldham and he travels to London to seek his fortune on its gold paved streets. Upon arrival he befriends a loyal companion Tommy the Cat and together they gain employment on the ‘good ship Metrolink’ where he falls in love with the Captain’s daughter. But Dick must defeat the evil King Rat to marry his love.

Billy Suet played by [Richard ...

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Latest User Review

Vicki - 4 December 2011:

Fabulous panto; great humour and thoroughly entertaining! For me King Rat made the performance; definitely the best 'bad guy' I have seen in a long time!!!...

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