Basil Brush, a glove puppet fox, has appeared on children’s television in Britain since the 1960s, and has one way or another continued to appeal over the decades. His appeal is broad – live appearances have included the Glastonbury Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. As far as I have been able to ascertain, his first live pantomime was in 1968, appearing in Aladdin at Theatre Royal Brighton, and this isn’t his first panto at Richmond Theatre either, having been in Dick Whittington there in 2004. There wasn’t as much of the “Ha! Ha! Ha! Boom! Boom!” as his fanbase might have desired (perhaps it doesn’t quite work in a panto, where most punchlines are generally deemed to be funny regardless of their apparent quality), and it’s worth noting that there were some younger patrons in the press night audience who had no previous knowledge of him. Perhaps he needs to make better use of YouTube – there is an ‘official Basil Brush channel’ but the latest video was posted three years ago.
Interestingly, for a panto called Cinderella, the final bow at curtain call was reserved for Helen George’s Fairy Godmother, who I found pleasant and serviceable, but ultimately, she didn’t have much to do apart from wave a magic wand around. I daresay if she had done so a lot more, we would have been in for a very short panto indeed. As it was, the show maintained a steady pace throughout (except of course when the nature of a scene called for double quick time), and while occasionally there were moments of spoken dialogue that seemed to drag on a little – that is, without any audience participation – the production values here were very high across all departments.
There were zero surprises in terms of storyline (not that anybody goes to the panto for the plot, and those who do, quite frankly do so at their own peril), and any local references were confined to name-dropping. This panto was also light on double entendres, and not bringing any children up on stage was a curious choice, as was the lack of an audience singalong. No custard pies were thrown, and no water was squirted (is austerity back in vogue in this economy?). And with the inclusion of a dance-off between Michael Lin’s Dandini and Charlie Stemp’s Buttons, the performance veered towards being more of a variety show than a pantomime, even if both Lin’s and Stemp’s previous theatrical credits more than justified showing off their combined fancy footwork.
Hope Dawe in the title role sung very beautifully, while Buttons’ interactions with the audience were delightful to witness. Verruca (Stephen Guarino) and Hernia Hardup (Jak Allen-Anderson), always referred to by their names, avoiding the term ‘ugly sisters’, were, judging by the boos and hisses sustained to the end, consistently convincing. The second half began with a flourish, and a suitably spectacular song and dance number portraying people’s excitement at Prince Charming’s (a fresh-faced Tom Major) ball. Plenty of merriment, oodles of enthusiasm, lots of laughter – resistance was futile in what was, despite missing elements, a panto with warmth and charm.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Packed with all the traditional pantomime ingredients Richmond Theatre audiences love, this enchanting panto features laugh-out-loud comedy, stunning scenery, beautiful costumes and plenty of boos and hisses.
Fairy Godmother – Helen George
Buttons – Charlie Stemp
Baron Basil – Basil Brush
Dandini – Michael Lin
Cinderella – Hope Dawe
Prince Charming – Tom Major
Verruca Hardup – Stephen Guarino
Hernia Hardup – Jak Allen-Anderson
Ensemble – Lucia Coleman, Luke Jarvis, Hannah Morcos, Rowen Newsome, Emily Rose-Davis, Sienna Walker
Written by Harry Michaels and Alan McHugh
Additional Material by Gary Wilmot
Director – Gary Wilmot
Choreographer – Stephen Mear
Musical Supervisor – Rick Coates
Musical Director – Pearce Tee
Costume Designer – Teresa Nalton
Additional Costume Design – James MacIver and Ron Briggs
Speciality Costume Design and Construction – Mike Coltman
Lighting Designer – Graham J McLusky
Sound Designer – Tom Marshall
Special FX – The Twins FX
CINDERELLA
Richmond Theatre, Little Green, TW9 1QJ
6 December 2025 to 4 January 2026
not impressed. second half was fun but 1st half was tedious. fairy godmother was not engaging. chorus was brill. song choice lame. previous pantos at Richmond have been really good. basil brush for gods sake????? very little inuation to keep adults engaged. overall YAWN !