REVIEW: Beauty and the Beast at Durham Gala

Beauty and the Beast

Durham Gala  

Until Tuesday 31 December 2024

Pantomime season is back with the traditional, in many senses of the word, curtain raiser that is the show at Durham Gala. Or should one say "Durjambon" as the latest show renames the city. 

The show begins with a song which shows off the tight dance routines from an ensemble that did not put a foot wrong. Then first up is Jude Nelson, appearing once again as the show's comic, as Jongleur. She follows the convention of immediately getting the audience involved, in that they should respond when she comes on stage, but unusually she does this before giving her characters name. The younger members of the audience quickly take to Jude and she builds a report with them that has them contributing throughout the show.

Next up is Beth Crame as Belle, who runs a book stall. Beth appeared to have a better grasp of the script than some of her colleagues and helps them out - unless that's part of the act. In panto it is hard to tell sometimes. As Zoe Lambert appears as the inventor Madame Perplexe you quickly recognise the unique feature of the show when compared to other north east shows: it is largely female led and this is to be welcomed. For once it is the lads, with the exception of the Beast, who are largely sidelined as minor characters. 

The Gary Kitching script is full of family friendly jokes and it makes it a safe show for the family. But there is another key point here. Pantos either stick to the job of telling the story with humour along the way, or the show title is merely a theme that is mostly acknowledged in the first and final scenes but rarely through the show. Beauty and the Beast firmly sticks in the former group - resulting in a show that is more satisfying for the younger people as they tend to want a story and not just endless stand up routines.

That is not to say that we don't get some panto formula here: a messy scene, which will be familiar to the Customs House regulars, and community singing which was a nice finish to the action.

The double act of Adam Donaldson and Sarah Bulmer worked well as Monsieur Brillant and Madame Horlodge once the action moved to the Beast's Chateau. The show does feel Disneyfied at this point with Suryan Hadrick, as the Beast, holding the same poses as the animation at times.

Director Rachel Glover has some calls to make to bring the action closer to the audience in what is already a fairly small two level auditorium. It is difficult to move into the audience without leaving half of the audience wondering where the action is. Putting a couple of the cast on the upper level during the big production number was a good call. The extended introduction of Kieron Michael as Gourmand dragged that phase of the show and perhaps it would be better to start on the stage to keep the pace up.

On the other half of the upper level is the live band, under musical director Gabrielle Ball, who do a great job in backing the singing. Having a live band rather than recorded music does add to the atmosphere and lifts the show.

The key indicator of a pantos success is how involved the young audience gets. Do they want to help those on stage with their quests? In this respect the 2024 Durham Panto is a success. The families left with smiles on their faces.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Cast and creatives:

Written by Gary Kitching
Directed by Rachel Glover
Musical Supervisor & Arrangements Joshua Tarrier
Musical Director & Additional Arrangements Gabrielle Ball
Choreographer Helen West
Costume Designer Emily Baxendale

Cast

Belle: Beth Crame
Madame Perplexe: Zoe Lambert
Jongleur: Jude Nelson
Prince Alphonse / The Beast: Suryan Hadrick
Gourmand: Kieron Michael
Monsieur Brillant: Adam Donaldson
Madame Horloge: Sarah Bulmer

Tickets: 

https://galadurham.co.uk/galapost/beauty-and-the-beast/ 

Box Office: 03000 266 600

Accessible performances of Beauty and the Beast:

BSL (British Sign Language) interpreted performances on Sunday 1 December, 11.00am, Saturday 7 December, 2.00pm and Monday 30 December, 2.00pm; a relaxed performance on Friday 6 December, 1.30pm and a BSL and captioned performance on Tuesday 17 December, 6.30pm.