Review: Sleeping Beauty at Falkirk Town Hall is the perfect panto

The sparkling festive show offers audiences the perfect chance to escape the hustle and bustle, sit back, relax and enjoy a few hours of traditional festive theatre escapism.

It’s a retelling of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty we all know. A curse is placed on a young princess, who we are told will prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her 18th birthday and die.

It’s not all doom and gloom though when the evil fairy’s spell is amended slightly so she will not die, but instead fall into an enchanted sleep for 100 years.

However, only true love’s kiss will be able to wake her from her slumber.

Sleeping Beauty has all that we’ve come to know and love in a good panto.

Laughs – there are plenty; song and dance – the upbeat tunes will have you dancing in your seat; and colourful costumes – you’ll be dazzled by their brightness.

And of course, no panto would be complete without the audience participation and there’s many chances to boo, cheer and heckle – oh yes there is!

Imagine Theatre have once again secured a terrific cast with the return of a number of faces Falkirk panto-goers know and love.

Among them there’s the town’s own Barbara Bryceland, who is back for her fourth year, this time as good fairy Azurial. Derek McGhie returns as her evil sister Carabosse, lapping up the boos from the audience for the villainous role once again. He has nailed the right amount of wickedness with this character and one particular highlight is his incredibly powerful rendition of Alice Cooper’s Poison.

There are two other familiar faces in the line-up and they’ve formed a great rapport with the local audiences over the years.

Craig Glover dons the ridiculously colourful and over the top costumes once again as the dame, this year it’s Nanny Knot hired by King Cuthbert to look after Princess Belle. He has the audience in stitches, particularly through his banter with sidekick Muddles, brilliantly played by Scott Watson. The pair bounce off each other and the audience and it’s clear to see they are loving it on stage. For me, the duo once again steal the show this year.

Nicole Flynn plays the innocent Princess Belle as if she’s sugar sweet, while Flynn Stars puts on a great show as the handsome Prince Valliant. There’s some great humour from Justin Skelton as the forgetful King Cuthbert too.

The supporting ensemble did a wonderful job and it was fantastic to see the return of the Junior Ensemble this year for the first time since 2019’s production of Aladdin. They really are a talented bunch of young local performers. Special mention must go to Fairy Fabulous, played by Millie Bentall in Saturday’s performance, who was, well, just fabulous.

Other highlights to look out for include the scenes in the castle kitchen and Muddles’ inventions.

The team behind Sleeping Beauty have done an incredible job once again this year – I don’t think there’s any local community that’s not given a wee mention in the script – and it was a great afternoon out for the whole family.

They may have had to delay opening night due to heating problems, but when it did get underway the audiences loved it.

And for what is set to be the last ever panto at Falkirk Town Hall, the cast are certainly going out on a high with this one.

If you’re looking for some light-hearted entertainment in the run up to Christmas, Sleeping Beauty is at Falkirk Town Hall until December 30.

Cast: Azurial – Barbara Bryceland; Nanny Knot – Craig Glover; Princess Belle – Nicole Flynn; Muddles – Scott Watson; Carabosse – Derek McGhie; Prince Valliant – Flynn Stars; King Cuthbert – Justin Skelton; Ensemble – Drew Williams, Jennifer Darby, Aaron Andrews, Ellis Rae; Junior Ensemble – (Briar team) Millie Bentall, Elsi Manderson, Alyssia Dewar, Leonie Beveridge, Emma Crosthwaite, Stella Gillespie, Rhian Beveridge, Isla Gordon; (Rose team) Laura Hendry, Caitlyn Justice, Hayla McBain, Gracie Coyle, Amy Meichan, Violet Beattie, Eva Inglis and Sophie Ryan.