Review: Rock’n’Roll Robin Hood at Leeds City Varieties

Thursday, 30th November 2023 at Leeds City Varieties

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Rock’n’Roll Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood is this year’s panto offering at Leeds City Varieties and it joins previous productions at the venue as one of the best festive offerings each year.

This tale sees the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham and his numpty henchmen going up against Robin Hood and Maid Marian in their bid to save the “babes” from his money-grabbing and murderous tower-tossing ways. It’s not particularly high on my list of top panto fodder, but this cast is predictably top notch, so the story is second to the talent and that is fine by me! As with all Rock’n’Roll pantos, the cast are multi-talented and put on a fantastic show as both actors and musicians, doubling as characters and on-stage band all the way through.

Kenny Davies is a fab Sheriff of Notts, bringing all the villainous cackling, bellowing and scowling we could want before launching into a ditty or two for good measure. Samuel Pope’s Robin Hood is suitably dashing and passionate with the healthy dose of arrogance required of vigilantes – and he boasts powerful pipes to boot, giving a performance which suggests he might have been waiting his whole life to belt Meatloaf in panto garb…

Lucy Keirl’s Maid Marian is nice and modern, shaking off the damsel vibes we might expect and instead offering up an empowered woman without losing the amiable sweetness needed. The “babes” are a couple of Paris-Hilton-circa- The Simple Life-types (showing my age there…), played with confident, tongue-in-cheek vapidness by Hannah Baker and Louisa Beadel. Lana Walker and Guy Freeman are a cracking comedy pairing who really go to town on vacancy and foolery as the henchmen – and Freeman’s Numbskull in particular is a highlight and a jester of top tier variety, balancing idiocy and sweetness to perfection.

And speaking of perfection and predictability – Simon Nock is back and just as fabulous as ever, this time as the ever-amorous, ever-cheeky and ever-scene stealing Nanny Nellie. Subjectively, he’s a season highlight each year, but even objectively, Nock is brilliant in the realm of dames. He excels in that dual layer of humour found in the best pantos: that cheeky, playful rapport with audiences and at core, that lovable sense of pure joy in being on stage. He remains a festive favourite and the general consensus is long may he reign at the Varieties!

Peter Rowe’s writing merges traditional panto elements with modern additions and continues the trend of daring quips which fly inches from the tops of little heads and therefore keep the grown-up audience just as entertained as the youngsters. Rob Salmon does well to direct quite a lengthy show with lots of engaging details to keep us hooked (I will never tire of a good panto puppet or five popping up) and Dawn Allsopp’s costume and set, along with Tim Oliver’s lighting, go a long way in keeping up with the big, bold performances from the exuberant cast. Rebekah Hughes’ musical direction and choreography from Sam Spencer-Lane are the cherries on the Christmas trifle, bringing fun and spectacle to the generous musical numbers.

All in all, it’s another top year for the City Varieties gang – if you’re still making your mind up about this year’s family trip to a show, you can’t go wrong with this one!

Rock’n’Roll Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood is at Leeds City Varieties until January 7th 2024 – you can find your tickets and more information here.

Images: Ant Robling Standard