Goldilocks and the Three Bears - Audience lapped up this delightful gentle pantomime
- Charles Essex
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, performed at The Priory Theatre, Kenilworth, from Wednesday 17 December 2025 until 4 January 2026. Director: Mike Brooks.
Review by Charles Essex.
The Priory’s version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears was a novel take on a well known story. The plot was that a circus owned by Dame Sadie (Paul Sully) was in financial difficulties and being threatened by Baroness Winkle Hoffer (Sharon Sully) and needed a new act to revive its fortunes. Connor Cunningham was Jake, Dame Sadie’s son. Connor had a wonderful characterisation of a pantomime twerp and brought vigour, energy and enthusiasm as he has to all his pantomime roles. He and Paul sparked off each other well to the delight of the full house.
Jo Banbury showed her versatility taking the role as Petal Pop, a good fairy by another name, contrasting with her other roles at The Priory this year. The circus ring master Colin (Robert Bateman) and Goldilocks (Rose Bird) moved the plot along with their growing romance. This led seamlessly into song and dance routines. The ensemble had rehearsed well and performed Claudia Temple’s choreography slickly, with various cast members singing duets or foursomes. The dance routines were a particular highlight of the performance, with tap and ballet routines.
Although the bears did not appear for some time, the three members of the troupe in costume, Molly, Hannah and Hallé, were entirely believable as they synchronised well to the voiceovers speaking their lines. This was a nice touch that went down well with the audience. Unlike the familiar Three Bears story, these bears were friendly towards Goldilocks which allowed the traditional pantomime conflict between good (Dame Sadie and Jake) and evil (the Baroness) to play out alongside the humour, slapstick and musical theatre.
Sharon gave the Baroness a suitably wicked theatrical accent, harnessing her inner Cruella de Vil, as she berated all around her including her reluctant henchman Pedro (George Haughie).
The costuming was very impressive and the stage was in effect a series of backdrops, which was all it needed to be for the actors, dance and musicality to tell the story. There was a running joke of puns on various types of cheeses, but the script contained too few jokes and the tempo was relatively sedate. The cast and crew did a very competent job with the material they had to work with and this can be highly recommended as family-friendly, particularly for younger children going to their first pantomime, over the Christmas period.
For tickets please go to: https://www.priorytheatre.co.uk/book or call ticket source on 0333 666 3366.
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