…..SoSuterBill…..

Stage: Puss in Boots – Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre
(Performances, until January 12, are at 2.30pm daily every Tuesday to Friday, and on Sundays. Saturday performances are at 11am and 3.30pm)
REVIEW BY BILLY SUTER

LAST staged in Durban nine years ago and also restaged seven years ago at Johannesburg’s Gold Reef City, KickstArt theatre company’s production of the Steven Stead-penned panto, Puss in Boots, slinks back again – and with some of the original cast – to delight anew. It’s a ‘claw-ver’ show that amounts to a ‘purr-fect’ treat ‘fur’ the whole family.

Super-corny puns aside, this truly is a big winner as holiday entertainment for all ages, and early booking is strongly advised.

Directed with aplomb, affection and much tongue in cheek by panto stalwart Darren King (the show’s original director, Stead, has been otherwise engaged, directing an upcoming national touring production of My Fair Lady), Puss in Boots offers a great, big, splash of spectacle, song, slapstick and send-up. It is on a par with any success KickstArt has nailed annually since the company’s first Durban panto, Cinderella, in 2004.

This rendition of the quirky European fairytale has a number of plot twists; a lot of fun and unpredictability. It is set on an enchanted Caribbean island ablaze with tropical colour and inhabited by dancing sprites, playful ghosts, a confectionary-loving ogre and a pint-sized king, among others.

The casting all round is spot-on and Rory Booth is excellent, with exaggerated Spanish accent, in his revival of the wily title role. Giving his best performance since Donkey in Kickstart’s Shrek the Musical, he is truly the cat’s pajamas. Given the gift of speech by a good fairy, he is the perky pet of the hapless Tom Marzipan, played with gusto and charm by strapping young William Young, last seen in this theatre as the lead in KickstArt’s Jack and the Beanstalk two years ago.

One of Durban’s very best panto dames, the towering and super-camp Blessing Xaba, is back again as Tom’s long-suffering baker mother, Merry Marzipan, complete with dresses and hats created from baked goods; while a newly blond Lyle Buxton, making his 10th KickstArt panto appearance, is a constant scene-stealer as Tom’s vain, brawny, bungling boet, Tristram, whose mannerisms and costumes owe some inspiration to meathead Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

Belinda Henwood sprinkles magic again as Jamaican-accented good fairy Calypso Honeybunch, while another KickstArt panto favourite, Bryan Hiles, is terrific in the showy role of a comical villain, Grimsby Withergood, a shape-shifting goblin wizard with giant fluorescent ears and, of course, a dastardly plan.

Also contributing to the fun are sweet-voiced Roshanda Lewis as Princess Miranda, ever-amusing Mthokozisi Zulu as King Magnum the Magnanimous and a truly enchanting Kirsty Ndawo as Lord Grimsby’s petite and slinky cat, Selina Swiftclaw.

Customarily brilliant, cartoonish sets and props by Greg King include a village, a palm-edged pond and the exterior and interior of an ogre’s castle. Also watch for an assortment of cool puppets.

The show boasts spirited choreography by Simone Mann (who also performs as a hard-working dancer alongside Sarah Tyrell) and the usual high standard of lighting by Tina le Roux.

As with all KickstArt pantos there are many topical references – everything from Ushaka and Eskom to the Playhouse and the Checkers Minis collection – as well as laughs from references to the likes of Donald Trump, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Thabo Mbeki and Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, among others.

Songs ranging from She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain and Tiptoe Through the Tulips, to hits by Katy Perry, Debarge, Ricky Martin, Miami Sound Machine, Michael Buble and Mariah Carey, fleck the fairytale. These and the always-anticipated singalong ditty (complete with giant lyrics on a drop-down fabric), add extra glitter to what is a giant, glitzy Christmas cracker of a show.

Not even an unusual opening night technical wobble, involving a large drop cloth refusing to budge during the panto’s finale – a problem solved with great improvised flair, by the way – could dampen the spirits of a capacity audience that was quick to offer a hearty standing ovation.

Puss in Boots is the one Durban must-do this festive season. It runs until January 12, with performances at 2.30pm daily every Tuesday to Friday, and on Sundays. Saturday performances are at 11am and 3.30pm. Booking is via Webtickets.