The Little Mermaid: Song of the Sea at Greenwich Theatre Review
This summer’s family-friendly offering from Greenwich Theatre is the sixth show written by Anthony Spargo, following four pantos (in which he also plays a show stopping villain!) and last summer’s Three Musketeers. This time, his story is based on the The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of the mermaid princess who gives up her voice for the chance to become mortal in pursuit of the human she has fallen in love with.
The scene is set by a Narrator (Charlotte Harwood), inviting us into her cosy lounge to hear her read a story to her dog Pippin, a puppet handled and voiced by Ava Honey. Harwood has a clear and warm tone that projects well, and doesn’t really need the mic that occasionally boosts her voice. This is presumably to draw us in and out of the action on stage, but it’s rather more distracting than effective. Pippin is a firm favourite with the children in the audience and Honey is skilled at bringing him to life (Pippin is so popular when he comes into the auditorium to meet the children during the interval that they are almost late getting on stage to start the second act, so many eager new fans were waiting to give him a pat!).
The story itself is a little slow to get started. We’re transported to the Cornish coast and introduced to dashing Captain Trevelyan (Matt Penson) and his trusty sidekick Barbanus Binns (James Aldred), as the two set out on an expedition to discover the lost underwater city of Lyonesse. Pressed by reporters (a nice contemporary touch), Trevelyan dismisses rumours of monsters, mermaids and magic, he absolutely doesn’t believe in any of that. We’ll see about that …
The energy picks up once we’re introduced to Pearl, our little mermaid, whose beautiful singing captures the Captain’s heart. As Pearl, Nikita Johal moves around the stage with lovely fluid movements and has a beautiful tone when she sings. As her song is so vital to the plot, it could do with being amplified a little to stress its powerful pull. Ava Honey doubles as her friend Crabbie (a crab!), a fun character providing some light relief and one I would have liked to see more of.
Of course it wouldn’t be a fairy tale without a villain. We’re introduced to Octavia the Sea Witch (Blossom Timothy) who has used her magic to trick Pearl’s father, Poseidon the King of the Sea (uncredited), into marrying her. In exchange for the potion that will allow Pearl to live on land, Pearl must give the witch her beautiful voice. Timothy has a strong presence and her evil cackle leaves nobody in any doubt of her intentions.
As Pearl has been introduced as a young woman who is full of questions, giving up the ability to voice those questions is a huge sacrifice – it gives the trade a little more depth than the standard fairytale trope that sees an evil witch jealous of the beautiful young princess and her talents.
The set is simple and we are taken from on land to under the sea by use of shadow projections. They’re very effective at the rear of the stage, but images on smaller screens further forward don’t immediately catch your eye and could be difficult to follow from some seats.
Although billed as containing “all the magic of Panto”, this show is not full of slapstick, audience interaction and OTT colourful characters. But this classic “tale about a tail” does have Spargo’s trademark intelligent wordplay, a narrative that’s easy to follow and plenty of charm. The young audience members are fully engaged, leaning forward in their seats to fully take everything in. Closing with a sea shanty style song, the small ensemble cast produces a beautiful sound to send us away thoroughly enchanted by this song of the sea.
Suitable for children aged 5 and over, The Little Mermaid: Song of the Sea runs at Greenwich Theatre until 23rd August.
Anthony Spargo is back with this year’s Panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, from 27th November 2026 until 10th January 2027.
★★★★
Reviewed by Penny, August 2026.