Panto Review: Peta Pam by the Darlings

Venue: Karamel Club, Wood Green
Dates: 6-8 Decemeber; 12-15 December
Price: £8 in advance, £10 on the door

Karamel is a friendly, intimate venue. The evening's entertainment is complimented by the offer of a pre-show meal at the Karamel cafe. It is well worth taking up the offer to have a great menu choice, excellent food and fab value. (But do book your table in advance as it can get busy in there!)

For their opening night, the Darlings played to a packed house, many of whom were faithful Darlings followers, but plenty of new faces too.

The panto itself turned tradition on its head, as we've come to expect, and takes the audience, as well as Wendy, John and Michael on a fantastical trip - where fairies do exist "I believe in fairies" - to a lesbian utopia/dystopia (it could have gone either way) called 'Well I Never' Land. This is the place where Lost Lesbians live in some kind of women filled Hedonism that has lost it's way a bit due to the lesbians all thinking about the one that got away. Until the big happy ending that is.

Innuendo was the theme of the night, in this funny adaptation (or rather, lesbianification) of the traditional take on panto, in this well written script very suited to its audience.

What really shined through was the comradary of the cast, much bigger than last year, and team spirit as the players supported each other through typical panto comic shenanigans.

Where else will you find a Spanish crocodile, and a gangsta mermaid alongside historical heroic lesbians of days gone by? And it all just about working in a surreal sort of way.

If you want fun, christmas spirit, the panto participation ("oh yes you do") and innuendo by the buckets, pearls, fists, and then some, this is the play for you.

Details of Peta Pam and all the other LGBT pantos are available on our Panto Feature.

Review by Katie