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:

Karen Bussell - 18 December 2012

Christopher Biggins makes a welcome return to Plymouth in Qdos Entertainment’s Dick Whittington.

This is classic panto but less stilted and more engaging than most under the tight direction of Ken Alexander and Jonathan Kiley.

A seemingly somewhat subdued Biggins is still good value as Sarah while Basil Brush collects himself a new generation of fans with his irrepressible charm and toilet humour.

[Hilary O’Neil] showcases a great repertoire of impressions as the feisty not bovvered Spirit of The Bells helping Dick (a fresh-faced Sam Cassidy) and Tommy the Cat (an agile Lukus Alexander) thwart the nasty King Rat (Judge John Deed’s James Barron) and his henchrats.

Ben Nickless is endearing as Winkle, and the trigger for much corpsing and giggling on stage particularly when squeezing the pecs of a ripped Sultan of Morocco (Jeremy Fontanet) and losing his trumpet, and Mia Lincoln (Hairspray, Saturday Night Fever

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