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Mother Goose dreams of riches and beauty… and runs her Dance Academy on the side. Will her dreams come true, or will she lose everything to the evil sorceress Narcissa? With trainee-fairy liqui-tap trying to make things right, one thing is for sure – Mother Goose is going to need all your help to live happily ever after! So warm up your booing and hissing, your cheering and shouting and your sing-along voices for great laughs, bad jokes and the adventure of a lifetime as Mother Goose and her egg-straordinary friends make the tricky choice between wealth, beauty and being lovely!
TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR THE FINAL DAY AT 2.30PM & 7.30PM ON SATURDAY 2ND JANUARY!
Group discounts for parties of 12 people and over are available by calling 01334 475 000.
Time(s) of Production:
2.30pm: 2nd Jan.
7.30pm: 2nd Jan.
Location of Production: AB Paterson Auditorium
| St Andrews Citizen by Karen Barnett | Something for everyone is an often used cliché, but it is definitely the case with the Byre Theatres production of Mother Goose. Bright colours to keep babies entranced jokes about passing wind and poo to keep the little boys amused, up to date songs and general pantomime fun to keep everyone engaged and reminders of Rab C Nesbitt and even the Rocky Horror Show to keep the older members of the audience happy. After the success of Cinderella last year, the Byre decided once again to mount a traditional pantomime as its Christmas show, Lawrie McNicol (formerly of Take the High Road and currently starring at the takeaway Gorgeous which he runs with his partner) taking on the role as the director. The audience I was a part of certainly appreciated the decision. The Mother Goose story has been re-written and brought up to date by Johnny McKnight and is not quite the story some might remember. Mother Goose (wonderfully played by Stephen Docherty) runs a panto school but dreams of being rich and beautiful. Her troubles begin when Jill (local girl Hannah Donaldson), daughter of the evil sorceress Narcissa (Nicola Auld), joins the school. Although helped by Good Fairy Liqui Tap (Kim Deerin), things go from bad to worse for Mother Goose. Although she gets hger wishes of wealth, youth and beauty (?!) she faces losing her beloved goose. Only Fairy Liqui Tap and the audience can help her (and the rest of the cast!) live happily ever after. As required everyone in the audience, from the youngest to the oldest, joined in the enthusiasm, cheering, jeering, hissing, booing and singing along to ensure that happy ending. There can be no doubt that panto fans will love this production. Even those who are not fans may be converted! It is a high quality show, with a talented cast, good music and colourful costumes. I can heartily recommend Mother Goose as a show I can guarantee your whole family will enjoy, and with a two-hour running time, it is in fact, pretty good value for money. | 11/12/2009 |
| www.standrewsnews.co.uk | PROOF if any were needed that Pantomime isn't just for children can be found here in the combined reviews of St Andrews News' three generation-strong team who got right into the audience participation at Saturday's matinee at the Byre Theatre in St Andrews. Eleven-year-olds Sophie and Anna: “What a great Pantomime. Funny and exiting. A tale of Mother Goose’s singing and drama academy that all the fairy tale characters go to. The evil Narcissa is up to no good and persuades Mother Goose (Stephen Docherty) to swap her prised goose for a dip in her pool of youth. “Wacky costumes for all the characters make the show really bright and colourful and also funny. The only distracting thing was the little girl in front of me who was wearing a flashing butterfly headband.” Mum Jean thought the cast really looked like they were enjoying themselves. “They had jokes to suit all ages and when things went wrong, they just ad-libbed hilariously and got right on with it. “I loved the Dame who appeared out of the Elixer of Youth in a black leather mini-dress with holes in it and thigh-length boots. I thought Jill (Hannah Donaldson) had a fantastic voice and Including local children in the show was a lovely idea. The baddie 'Narcissa' (below) played by Nicola Auld was brilliant. “There really was something for everyone. The girls enjoyed doing the games in the foyer before the show and some of the adults in the audience were shouting louder than the children. One of our grannies was nodding in time to the hip hop music. There was a great atmosphere." And for the last word, Grandma B adds: “The atmosphere as you went in was Christmassy with lots of smiling faces and the costumes mostly in reds, green and glitter added to the festive feeling. I thought the sets were fairly ingenious and the whole thing went over well at a happy, rollicking pace. The final scene, sparkling with glitter would, I'd think, be breathtaking for a child – or a granny!” | 08/12/2009 |
| The Courier by Maura Bowman | MAYBE IT is a sign of old age, but the panto season seems to come round ever faster each year. It feels no time since we were last at the Byre in St Andrews for its sell-out foray into traditional festive jollification in the form of Cinderella, but here we are again, this time for Mother Goose. The recipe is pretty much the same as before—lots of laughs, songs, visual humour and general high spirits. At the heart of the action is, of course, Mother Goose, a tour de force (or should that be farce!) performance by Stephen Docherty. This is a Dame who knows how to work an audience, a talent shared by ex-Happy Gang-er Nicola Auld, whose Narcissa is a delightfully hissable wicked sorceress. The other principal players do not let the side down, either. Welcome returns from last year’s cast are Jordan McCurrach and David Ashwood, as Mother Goose’s sons Jack and Gary. A new addition to the mix, Kim Deerin, makes a refreshingly gallus Fairy Liqui Tap and fellow first-timer Hannah Donaldson is charming as the ‘emo’ romantic lead Jill. Writer Johnny McKnight clearly loves the genre and his references to panto convention take a trick with the older members of the audience. This is a plot-lite show, however. Though there is a narrative thread involving two love affairs, a dastardly plot to cook Lucy Goosie for Christmas dinner and Mother Goose’s desire to regain her lost youth and beauty, it is only there as a framework for the gags, musical numbers and slapstick. But when a show has such joie de vivre what can you do but be caught up in the atmosphere of good cheer? Even my 11-year-old, who initially treated the idea of audience participation with chilly disdain, was hollering, whooping and singing by the end. Mother Goose is the theatrical equivalent of eating a bowl of tomato soup while wrapped in a duvet as the wind howls outside your window. It may not be challenging, it may not be surprising, it is certainly not sophisticated, but when it is just what you fancy it hits the spot every time. | 05/12/2009 |
| The Stage by John Di Folco | It’s Mother Goose in rock-pop panto mode at the Byre, served up with a magical mix of unflagging pizzazz, oomph and great dollops of fun that not so much engage an audience as engulf it. Holding fast - just -to the traditional message of steering a bumpy, roller coaster ride through that old moral maze of love versus vanity and greed, this cracker of a show, imaginatively and tightly directed by Lawrie McNicoll, is very much the sum of its individual talents. Nicola Auld as the evil, scheming Narcissa salivating after roast goose for Christmas lunch is horribly convincing. Poured into a tight fitting two-piece black and bile-green outfit, she has a mobile facial vocabulary and a chandelier-shattering voice that guarantee instant boos. Stephen Docherty strides confidently into a big, bold, colourful and loveable lead role. Hugely funny, constantly rapid-firing gags that have a genuine spontaneous feel to them, he also delivers a finely nuanced performance. The rest of the young professional cast swirl and whirl with high octane energy around him, with lots of upbeat dance routines, laced with loads of current street cred references, but not always at their strongest in the lyrics. Best Byre panto for years. | 04/12/2009 |
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