Mother Goose has migrated south to the Donald Gordon theater stage in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.
The story of Mother Goose has been around for centuries in one form or another. Some believe it is based on a housewife from Boston in 1660 with her 16 children, and there are others that claim Mother Goose is actually based on the wife of King Robert II of France. Berthe la fileuse, (Bertha the Spinner) or Berthe pied d’oie (‘Goose-Foot Bertha’) is known in French legends as being an incredible storyteller, capturing the minds of children as an incredible spinner of tales.
Various books have been published with stories of Mother Goose. Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals by Charles Perrault was subtitled Tales of Mother Goose, later translated to Histories or Tales of Past Times, Told by Mother Goose by Robert Samber. Samber’s works included stories such as Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots and Cinderella.
No matter the origin, the overarching narrative remains the same and the message of the tale too. It’s a story of morals vs greed. When given the opportunity to give up everything you have for fame and fortune, what’s the right choice?
This script was written by multi award winning comedy writer Jonathan Harvey (Gimme Gimme Gimme, Beautiful Thing, Shameless and The Catherine Tate Show) and directed by award winning comedy director Cal McCrystal who’s also a writer and performer.
Meet Carol, Mother Goose (Sir Ian McKellen, who needs no introduction) and her husband Vic (Gabriel Fleary – standby for Mr Bishop) whose name she seems to forget easily, much to the amusement of the audience. When we heard the news about John Bishop, we were intrigued to see what Gabriel had to offer. They are pretty big shoes to fill and oh-boy, we needn’t have worried, as Gabriel is brilliant and natural to the role. Gabriel Fleary, the Holby City and RSC actor takes to the part like a goose to water. Sir Ian (as he is known to us common folk) is fantastic and we’re so glad to see him in his natural habitat and back doing what he loves on the stage. I know in previous interviews, he has said how much he wanted to play a Dame once again. There are some light references to Lord of the Rings, but that’s to be expected and something that was enjoyed by all.
The story opens with poor Puss (Genevieve Nicole) in need of a home. She’s directed to the Animal Sanctuary for waifs and strays, run by the Goose’s. Despite some money troubles they live a wholesome life, inside an abandoned Debenhams store on Oxford street.
Jill (Simbi Akande), representative of all that’s bad from ‘The Energy Company’ comes round to evict the Goose family, along with all the animals they’ve taken in. Cila Quack (Anna-Jane Casey) – the magical goose sent by the good fairy Encanta (Sharon Ballard) – saves them from the streets with quite a shiny surprise. But could this also be the start of their undoing?
With fortune comes many changes, the first being a new home at the Tower of London, moat and all with son Jack (Oscar Conlon-Morrey).
Jack and Jill but there’s no hill,
Instead a moat of water,
Jack did frown,
At his mother gown,
And Jill’s an Airline pilot.
Mother Goose is tempted by Encanta’s evil counterpart Malignia and trades poor Cila Quack for fame, leaving her family behind.
Will Mother Goose discover the error of her ways and return to her family, will she free poor goose 24601 from her gilded cage in Gooseland? Will the Orcs get in the way?
This cast is jam packed with talent, the biggest surprise for us was when Jack (Oscar Conlon-Morrey) started singing. What an absolute fantastic voice, we could listen to him sing all day.
Liz Ascroft, with her simple but intricate stage design has really done wonders. Also designing the bright colourful costumes, this woman is the multi talented star off the stage.
With dance numbers a plenty Lizzi Gee, has tapped, twirled and jazzed up this performance for the audience. It is quite clear that there’s talent hidden in the wings and orchestra pit of Mother Goose.
The moral of this story for the audience is clear, there’s more important things to life than fame and fortune.
With other topics such as politics, soaring cost of living prices, the menopause and trying to fit in, the interwoven lessons for both adults and children are abundant.
It might be March, but this panto isn’t done yet. It’s jam-packed with laugh out loud comedy antics, which is fun for all the family. As you might expect, there is plenty of humour that the younger ones won’t get, and good job too, but that’s what makes it so much fun.
It may have been school night when we visited, which might explain why there weren’t so many children around. However, the age guidance is 4+ and we’d throughly recommend this show for the family. It’s not around for long and is only showing until 1st April in Cardiff, so if you are considering this smash hit, then you better be quick and book.
Mother Goose is the pantomime that’s on stage all year round, Oh no they didn’t…. Oh yes they did! With guaranteed entertainment for all of the family, this is a show you don’t want to miss. Tickets are available from £18 and on sale here.
John Bishop was unable to appear in this performance and will not be in any for this week’s run of Mother Goose. Mr Bishop has taken compassionate leave from the show, following on from his recent post on Instagram about the sad passing of his mother. Our condolences and thoughts are with John and his family at this very difficult time.
