REVIEW | Puss In Boots, Little Theatre Leicester

Puss in Boots at Little Theatre, Leicester. Photo: Dave Morris

Written by Emmie

Disclaimer: gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.

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Leicester is spoilt for choice with Evita at Curve Leicester, Jack and the Beanstalk at the De Montfort Hall and Leicester Drama Society’s Puss in Boots this Christmas. Billed as a traditional pantomime treat full of fun, laughter, sparkle and shine - is this the purr-fect family treat? 

Puss in Boots is probably the least familiar out of the repertoire of pantomimes on offer, but it has the potential to be just as enjoyable as the rest. John Bale writes, directs and takes on the role of the Dame in this production. Bale is certainly an expert when it comes to writing and putting on a show with a good pace - the scenes sustained a length of time that would engage everybody fully. However, some of the performances didn’t inspire or gain too much of my interest which was a shame overall. There is no doubt that Bale is also a huge favourite with repeating audiences to the Little Theatre’s pantomime, he had a strong stage presence and connected well with each of the characters throughout. His relationship with the brilliant Fusspott (played by Russell Webster) was one of the strongest in the performance. Webster gave my favourite performance of the night - naturally very funny and completely nailed his character, it is no surprise he gets the biggest laughs of the night. Joined by the zestful Abdullah Henly as Silly Billy, their hysterical ‘12 Days of Christmas’ was probably the performance of the night for me. 

Simon Butler is enjoyable as the Prince and matches well alongside Princess Lilly, played by Alice Marshall. Whereas it was Joe Middleton who shone for me as the villain Evil Wizard Malavort, he was absolutely brilliant from start to finish, lapping up every boo and hiss thrown in his direction by the highly ambitious audience.

Whilst the writing was great where the production fell short was in the choreography and how they executed some of the traditions in a pantomime. Whilst the audience was very enthusiastic, it couldn’t lift that the dance routines were flat and lacked variation. I think these alone would have lifted the overall finish of the production a lot better. Other than that, the “messy scene” also lacked a spark - it was over within minutes and didn’t pack any impact you’d expect from them. 

This wasn’t the strongest pantomime production for me this season but when you see that the children in the audience thoroughly enjoyed it, you remember that it was about them having a good time (and I can tell by the roars of laughter that is exactly true!)

At The Little Theatre until 7 January 2024.