Pick of the Pantos

Let your hair down and get a bit silly with a trip to the Christmas panto. It’s a fantastic way to celebrate the end of term. Wimbledon is fortunate to be home to the best panto in London – the Daily Mail reckons we should be as famous for panto as we are for tennis.

This year the New Wimbledon Theatre has invited Strictly man-eater Arlene Phillips CBE to star in Dick Whittington, and a cross-dressing Matthew Kelly to prove once again why he is the most outrageous dame in the business. The show runs from December 9 to January 15.

If Dick is not your favourite story there are plenty of choices in the area, with Maureen Lipman appearing as the Evil Fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty at the Richmond Theatre, directed by Chris Jarvis from CBeebies. It runs from December 2 to January 8, with tickets from £11.

For those with traditional tastes, Victorian panto The Dragon of Wantley is being revived at the Adrian Mann Theatre at Nescot College, Epsom on November 24 to 26 by the Worcester Park Dramatic Society, replete with a wicked squire, a vengeful fairy and of course a pantomime horse.

Meanwhile the Rose Theatre in Kingston is staging a new production of the children’s classic The Wind In The Willows, with a mix of professional actors and members of the Rose Youth Theatre,  running from December 6 until January 3. Tickets from £5.

Or support local talent by watching the Avalon Theatre Company’s production of Dick Whittington at the New Horizon Centre in Mitcham at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on November 26. For tickets, email denisemayne147@gmail.com or call 020 8647 2943.

Last but not least, if you feel like a special trip up town, the all-star Cinderella at the London Palladium is well worth checking out. With Amanda Holden as the Wicked Godmother, Paul O’Grady as the dame and Julian Clary as Dandini, it bids fair to be a sparkly camp-fest of the highest order. From December 10 to January 15.

By Jenny Booth
Follow: @JennyDotBooth
Visit: jennybootheditorial.wordpress.com