Yorkshire has its very own record-breaker. The incomparable Berwick Kaler has now been in residence at the York Theatre Royal playing the pantomime dame for thirty consecutive years. Not one single break. His colleague David Leonard has been the nasty villain for 21 of those years, and the wonderful Martin Barrass – always cast as the dame’s zany son, has been holding Berwick’s hand for twenty-four years. Suzy Cooper is a relative newcomer to the whole hellzapoppin shebang – she is a mere newcomer, with but 14 years on the good ship Kaler. And she’s got a black mark in her attendance record as well – she skipped last year. Having a baby in panto time is no excuse, Suzy, and you know it.
Fast coming up in the youth stakes is Vincent Gray, who has been a York stalwart for what, seven years now? Kaler believes in keeping things very much in his panto family – Vincent is his nephew. What York audiences want is stability – and tradition. And they are amply rewarded in this momentous year. If they expect a plot of any description, however, they will be sorely disappointed. What do we know of Dick Turpin? That he may (or may not) have ridden on his horse to York from the south, to attempt an alibi for an audacious robbery. That he was a notorious highwayman, and, er, that’s about it. So to flesh out the evening Berwick – who has also penned the script for this outrageous flummery – weaves in vampires, Old Mother Shipton, Amy Winehouse (and Sharron Osborne) Dr. Who, a Brummie policeman, a stolen crystal ball and dancing leprechauns. Look, please don’t ask, I’m as confused as you are. Did I mention Alma Cogan? No, I don’t think that I did. But someone does. If you’ve ever seen a Marx Brothers movie, then multiply the incomprehensible mayhem by ten and add a bit more. Get the picture?
York’s pantomimes are – there’s no other word for it – surreal. And they are getting surrealerer (I made that word up) by the year. There are, however, absolute certainties for the show. Barrass will get cruelly knocked about and still bounce back smiling. Leonard’s character will overact to the finite degree and be thwarted at every turn, and the delectable Ms. Cooper is on something (does she drink Oil of Ulay?) that makes her look younger and more madcap with every passing year. Kaler is, well, just Kaler. He has a wonderful gift of comic timing. He can deliver an outrageous pun, or a bewhiskeredly obvious old gag, and then stop, pause, and roll his eyes at the enormity of it all, piling laugh on top of laugh. I’ve been around a bit, and the only other person I can recall in live performance who came anywhere close to Kaler’s comic genius was Jack Benny. Yes, I’m that old, but I was a mere child when I saw him.
This five star, gold-plated show is an evening of sheer magic – there are no cut corners. The costumes and sets (by Phil R Daniels and Charles Cusick Smith) are stunning and vibrant on the eye. The band work wirelessly through the show, the dancers give their energetic all, and there’s not a single indication of anyone punching below their weight and not putting in maximum effort.
Dick Turpin won roars of unanimous approval – and if there has to be one show on your list to go and see this Christmas, this has to be it. The York panto has become a tradition for many – if you haven’t been before, you have no idea what you are missing. Although explaining what you’ve seen afterwards (when aided by a dry sherry or three) might be something of a problem. Congratulations on the anniversary, Berwick.
