Wicked Witches - A Popular Panto for Adults!

Neil Keenan
5 minutes ago
2 min read

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Neil (he/him) sets off to Oz-lington’s Pleasance Theatre to see Wicked Witches - A Popular Panto for Adults! and ends up having the most fun he’s had at the theatre all year.

Poster for Wicked Witches divided in quarters each featuring a photo of the main characters/cast — Photo credit: David Monteith-Hodge

I’m a sucker for a panto (oh yes I am), especially the adult versions, so Wicked Witches - A Popular Panto for Adults! really tickles my fancy. The Pleasance Theatre’s cobbled courtyard (in a previous life this place was a timber yard) and the trail of fairy lights leading up to the entrance create a magical vibe before the show has even started. We grab drinks from the cosy bar and head to our seats, where colourful wands of bubble mixture await - a hint of the audience participation to come. Talking of which, many of our fellow audience members are as gorgeously dressed as Isabella Van Braeckel’s stage set. I’m glad I wore a nice shirt.

Taking its inspiration from Wicked and The Wizard of Oz, Shane ShayShay Konno’s production has a lot of fun upping the ante on the usual panto gender-bending. Why stop at boys playing girls and girls playing boys? Here, the Tin Man wants to be known as the far cooler-sounding Tin 2.0!

Set twenty years after Dor(othy)’s first visit to Oz, a freak snowstorm reunites the old gang. Will they be able to stop the storm, defeat the witch, and save Christmas? Is the Good Witch really good? Is the Wicked Witch really so wicked? And what’s the real reason behind their feud? Why has someone from Kansas got a Cockney accent? And why did my female companion find herself strangely attracted to Dor?! (Almost) all will be revealed in this riotous romp.

Panto fairy on stage in a pink dress with other characters from Oz/Wicked in the background — Photo credit: Ella Carmen Dale

This may well be the best panto I’ve ever seen, with the relatively small cast and crew delivering a tight, well-oiled production. And behind it all, a heart-warming message of tolerance and inclusivity that left even this curmudgeonly, middle-aged, straight bloke with a tear in his eye, and wishing that the real world could be a little bit more like Oz-lington.

Very naughty and very funny, this is easily the most fun I’ve had at the theatre all year.

Wicked Witches - A Popular Panto for Adults! runs until Sunday 28th December (Adults only)

Where: The Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF

Tickets: £10 - £35

Running Time: 120 mins (with an interval). Various times.

Cast

Wicked Witch - Gigi Zahir/ Crayola The Queen (George Zahir Mawji-Bull) (they/them)

Good Witch - Eleanor Burke/ Apple Derrieres (she/her)

Tin 2.0 - Lew Ray (they/she)

Dorothy (Dor) - Ro Suppa (they/them)

Scarecrow - Nick Mac Duff (he/they)

Creatives