{"id":978,"date":"2023-02-10T10:52:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T10:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland\/?p=978"},"modified":"2023-02-10T10:52:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T10:52:32","slug":"pantomime-fun-at-curve-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/events\/pantomime-fun-at-curve-theatre\/02-2023","title":{"rendered":"Pantomime Fun at Curve Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anarchy, energy, colour and camp… all of the things you love about a traditional pantomime as Leicester\u2019s Curve Theatre brings a smash-hit touring production of Mother Goose to the city, starring veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen and comedian John Bishop…<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Ian
Ian McKellen and John Bishop: photo by Manuel Harlan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s good for the goose is good for the audience this month, as Leicester\u2019s Curve Theatre brings a smash-hit production of Mother Goose, one of the most celebrated pantomimes, to the stage from 15th March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m absolutely delighted with the response we\u2019ve had to the show already,\u201d says writer Jonathan Harvey. He really shouldn\u2019t have doubted the likelihood of its success, though. For a start, Jonathan has writing credits to his name including Coronation Street and Gimme Gimme Gimme (the 1991-2001 TV series starring Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus), so he\u2019s no stranger to either drama or comedy with a strong sense of camp.<\/p>\n

But when you add in a stellar cast of talent including lead actor Sir Ian McKellen and comedian John Bishop, the stage is set for a production that\u2019s guaranteed to prove a golden goose for Curve Theatre this spring.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s silly, camp anarchic, everything you want from a pantomime,\u201d says Jonathan, a Liverpudlian whose 1994 debut saw him launching not one but two shows on stage in the form of Beautiful Thing and Babies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was approached by the producers of Mother Goose \u2013 ATG Productions (Ambassador Theatre Group) \u2013 and asked to create the script and development. Sir Ian was already attached to the production subject to the script, and as there has already been many different versions of the story, we wanted to give it a fresh new relevance, and do something different, modern and interesting with the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new production debuted in Brighton in early December and will continue its run until April, touring the UK across 10 venues. Mother Goose is played by \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sir Ian McKellen, married to husband Vic, played by John Bishop. The two run an animal shelter in an abandoned branch of Debenhams, but feathers fly when the goose in question proves able to lay\u00a0golden eggs.\u00a0A\u2008rags to riches tale with more than a cautionary moral undertone ensues as fame and fortune get the better of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve references to the energy crisis and cost of living crisis, so there\u2019s an allegorical\u00a0element to the story, but otherwise it\u2019s traditional pantomime perfection,\u201d says Jonathan. \u201cSir Ian has really brought the dynamic of the family\u2019s relationship to life, and he\u2019s a benevolent, warm and talented actor, a real force of good for a production.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Guardian has praised the production\u2019s song and dance energy, whilst The Telegraph gave the show five stars and The Times has described it as \u2018cheerfully chaotic.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tend to associate pantomimes these days with the Christmas and new year period but traditionally pantomimes would have run through until Easter, and there\u2019s definitely more than a reference or two to eggs, so we think it\u2019s a great production for spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderpinning the production, too, is a range of showtunes and musical numbers which are all well-known and which really help to keep the energy of the production alive. There are so many treats in the whole thing that it\u2019s a definite feel-good show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curve Theatre is renowned for its Made at Curve productions, with Wizard of Oz and Billy Elliot the Musical two recent successes on the part of Artistic Director Nikolai Foster and the team.\u00a0\u201cCurve has developed an international reputation for producing, programming and touring a bold and diverse programme of musicals, plays, new work, dance and opera,\u201d say Nikolai. \u201cWe believe everyone who lives, works or learns in our city and beyond should have access to great art and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year over 750,000 people engage with Curve through performances and projects at our home in Leicester, across the UK and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theatre is looking forward to presenting an inspiring spring programme with the semi-fictitious biopic based around the music of Bob Dylan \u2013 Girl from the North Country \u2013 a returning production of J B Priestley\u2019s classic thriller An Inspector Calls and Jersey Boys, which goes behind the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. All are due to appear at Curve Theatre in March and April alone, ensuring the theatre is a must-visit venue this season.<\/p>\n

Mother Goose will appear at Leicester\u2019s Curve Theatre from Wednesday 15th\u00a0to Sunday 19th March, 1pm, 2pm,\u00a06pm, 7pm performances, tickets\u00a0\u00a310-\u00a345.50 call 0116 242 3595 or\u00a0see www.curveonline.co.uk.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anarchy, energy, colour and camp… all of the things you love about a traditional pantomime as Leicester\u2019s Curve Theatre brings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[186,293,292,223,291],"class_list":["post-978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-curve","tag-ian-mckellen","tag-john-bishop","tag-leicester","tag-pantomime"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":983,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/978\/revisions\/983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}