Now, it’s not often that our teenager asks to go to something. He’s in his grumpy, teen-age-era, as most 16 year old boys are. However, after going to a bunch of plays with Amelia and Robin, Kai announced he wanted to go to a panto. There wasn’t much notice at all, but we jumped at him wanted to attend something, so we went to see Beauty and The Beast Pantomime at Hertfordshire Studios.
We hadn’t been to Hertfordshire Studios before, but were interested as this was actually less than half an hour from our house. The studio isn’t a traditional theatre – it’s more of a hall with a stage. They are extremely welcoming, with some treats and freshly popped popcorn for sale, before you take your seats. There isn’t assigned seats, so getting there early makes the most sense! The whole thing feels very close knit and community-ran. They talked a bit about the space, things that they were running in the future, and about the Beauty and the Beast Pantomime, which is played by award-winning actors who previously won an award for preforming on a ferry! Then, they got into the show.
Beauty and the Beast Pantomime has a smaller cast than some of the other shows we’ve seen lately. There wasn’t a dame, which, as an America, I thought was in all pantomimes! With that said, it was very much full of talent. The singing was fantastic, the acting was very well done, and they made great use of stage itself. There was some of the backdrop changing through a video, which sometimes had a fairy character talking on it. This felt very modern and really made sense of the space! We all liked how there were moments from classic pantos – like the “it’s behind you!” bits with the bench, but in a twist, this bench was made in a way that threw people off of it.
Beauty and the Beast Pantomime was just very well done! The actors even called a few of the younger kids on stage, of which Robin got to go in for a prolonged amount of time, where she did a big dance with a mop! It was so neat seeing her shine, volunteer, and then talk loudly and proudly with the actor from the show. She’s just such a vibrant and amazing young girl! Kai very much enjoyed the show, though he did wish there was a dame, and we felt like we were really a part of their community by the end of it.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!