Delightfully engaging production for many at their first panto

Jon Kerr and Abigail Drennan. Photo by FuzFilmz.

Sleeping Beauty performed by Tread the Boards at The Cidermill Theatre, Chipping Camden, from 13 December to 31 December 2025. Written and directed by John-Robert Partridge.

Review by Charles Essex

Tread the Boards theatre company once again showed the depth of their talent running two pantomimes concurrently over Christmas, both written and directed by John-Robert Partridge (JP).  Cinderella is being performed at their base at The Attic Theatre in Stratford. The delightful family favourite Sleeping Beauty was performed at The Cidermill Theatre in Chipping Camden to an enthusiastic audience. This production hit all the right spots to keep the all-age audience engrossed throughout. 

The talented cast kept this production moving along apace. George Ormerod as Muddles was marvellous with his enthusiasm and audience engagement. Selected children were invited onto the stage to help with an action song and two very young children unexpectedly joined them – hats off to George who was not thrown at all but incorporated it without missing a beat much to the delight of their parents. JP gave an energetic performance as Dotty, Muddles’ mother, appearing in outrageous costumes at every change of scene and teasing the audience with mild innuendos. 

John-Robert Partridge and Jon Kerr. Photo by FuzFilmz.

The cast built on these two outstanding performances.  Abigail Drennan had just the right amount of pantomime menace as the evil witch Carabosse, contrasting with Emily Tietz’s sweetness as Fairy Good. Jon Kerr and Rosie Coles were the prince and princess, respectively, singing their love for each other  Mark Carey had excellent timing as King Fredrick.

The sizeable backdrops were particularly impressive. Choreography by Helen Leek, whether performed by professional dancers Bethany Tolhurst and Aggie Swenson or sometimes involving several of the cast, accompanied the different scenes and ensured there was plenty of movement filling the large Cidermill stage, which kept the audience engaged.  The finale was a clever medley of Abba songs and dance routines involving the whole cast.  The cast were clearly having fun and there were clever jokes and ad libs throughout.

George Ormerod and Cast. Photo by FuzFilmz.

It was clear from the comments and expressions on faces at the end that this large audience had been treated to a real feel-good family production.  For many of the young and very young children this could be subtitled “My first pantomime” and they enjoyed a treat.

Tickets from www.theattictheatre.co.uk including details of adult performances.