Porty Panto returns with Beauty and the Beast – a spectacularly traditional panto, alive with action, although somewhat lacking in terms of stylistic choices.
On a windy night in the Edinburgh suburb of Portobello, snuggled within Portobello Town Hall, I was entranced by this pantomime treat. Pantomime has become a tradition of British culture, and this one checked the tick-box exercise that many pantos follow.
Audience members cheer gaily throughout, singing along to the interweaved, characteristic pop hits which make panto such an enjoyable, accessible genre. Couples, children, and grandparents flocked down to the town hall to watch something to light up their Christmas, and fill them with cheer – as is clear from the audible roar of applause at the end of the show from above on the balcony as the little voices cheer excitedly to see this theatrical eye-candy pop.
Performances from the actors sometimes seem lacklustre. Despite stacking up a cast with credits ranging from Shetland to Robert De Niro’s The Family, the fast-paced speaking and too frequent addressing of the audience meant that the storyline gets lost within the epic dance numbers sparkling in this show. There is a complete detachment from the Beast (Grant MacIver) – we witness very little of his character and romantic moments appear randomly, which leaves the entire piece feeling a little pointless, even despite the gags and feel-good nature of the tale.
Glittery, leotards, cutesy smiling and slicked-back hair – the smells, the whistles, and the bells of theatre – are all provided by the young dance group who steal the show. The choreography is highly impressive and slickly polished.
The jokes fall in fast blizzards, overwhelming the audience despite their appropriate focus on Portobello and Edinburgh. Alec Westwood – who plays the pantomime Dame, Bonnie Scone – is the key to these energetic, high tempo jokes, each punctuated by a charming drum-clap-drum sound.
While vocal performances are limited from many characters when churning out blockbuster hits from 2025, the sprightly narrator Willow-O’-the-Wisp (Erin Robertson), and Bella (Sarah Alexandra Brown), deliver notes of wonder, harmonising and creating spine-tingling moments which sadly are few and far between.
Beauty and the Beast gives the audience the night of their lives and a blast of high energy, but lacks direction – less adherence to tradition and more creativity would elevate it extraordinarily.
Photo by Malik Tajamul, courtesy of Stage Door Entertainment.