Review: Watching Sleeping Beauty brought memories flooding back
The Location
The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury:
Why I wanted to watch?
Christmas time as a child was an experience most of us wish we could relive the essence of. I have always associated the pantomime with this experience, going every year religiously as a child. I thought I’d relive the experience at the Marlowe Theatre watching Sleeping Beauty as this years Pantomime.
I also thought this would be the perfect way to give myself a much needed festive boost.
The Marlowe
Getting my seat without too much thought, I landed myself in the top circle on the end of the row which was hard for me to access going back and forth and also taking pictures, so it’s recommended to research seating arrangements!
But the experience was still just as pleasant, getting glimpses of behind the scenes preparation from this seat.
Coming in it’s sparkling introductory backdrop reading ‘Sleeping Beauty’. The energy within the audience is evident even as I enter. I see a wide range of ages coming to watch as it is a 7pm start so this is to be expected.
The Production
We enjoy much entertainment from ‘Nelly’ who adds a slightly more adult style humour to the show, he is very interactive with the audience adding humour appropriate for all.
The backdrops in particular brought up a sense of nostalgia. I admire the craftsmanship that goes into making these and the entire production including musical team. The skill of the theatre actors is to be acknowledged as admirable too.
I can see how the audience engagement adds so much to peoples watching experience, rather than seeing everything digitally. However I am noticing more modern elements added since I last saw the pantomime, such as the screen above the stage adding commentary and context to the performance.
Many popular songs – old and new were remixed into the storyline and gave it a fun musical like feel, every single sense is stimulated watching, it is more than just observing or watching.
Sleeping Beauty
Memories of sleeping beauty was still foggy at the start of the show but suddenly it all fell into place when seeing the spinning wheel and I became reminiscent on the entire story.
There was also live fire stunts incorporated in, which was something I didn’t remember ever seeing at a pantomime.
The T-Rex’s coming alongside the fire may have terrified me when I was a child.
Final thoughts
I was surprised how quickly two and a half hours went watching this, i think the interactive spirit of watching theatre production and pantomime is something that can offer exciting diverse memories which we forget to experience so much in our modern world, though being here its clear it’s still annual for many.