If you haven’t been to The Lyric in Carmarthen, I would highly recommend it. It’s a charming space that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time whenever you go inside; it sells popcorn (one of my favourite things a theatre can do) and just generally feels like a big hug. The perfect place, then, for a Christmas panto.
Theatrau Sir Gâr’s Beauty And The Beast is a fun retelling of the classic pantomime staple. With some fun twists in the tale (such as no one in the village being bothered to help Gaston rescue Belle), the production offers something new to young children who may have only ever experienced Disney’s version of the story.
I’m a huge fan of a campy panto dame with the loudest and most wild costumes possible. Steve Elias, with the help of incredible outfits from Imagine Theatre, certainly delivers as Dame Sylvia Scrub-It. His audience patter is brilliant, and the dynamic with fellow comedic characters is generous and joyful. Carwyn Glyn is super sweet as Sammy Scrub-It, and Neil Moors is hilarious as the hapless villain Gaston. The moments where the three are onstage together are the highlights of the show. Watching Elias hurl toilet paper into the faces of unsuspecting children in the audience will make me smile whenever I think about it, and the way the three deal with mishaps and organise chaos is just wonderful.

The straight-men in this production also shine. The young ones in the audience are completely gripped whenever Alexandra George comes onstage as the Enchantress. Her storytelling and singing stand out, and she enables little ones to refocus throughout the show: not an easy task when you have a sea of giddy, chatty six-year-olds. Jonathan Alden is also unnecessarily good as Beast. His solo to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls is unironically emotional, and entirely not what I was expecting from a man with furry blobs for hands. Again, he really grips the young audience whenever he’s onstage, and acts as another strong grounding force for them to re-enter the plot after fun and raucous moments. He is excellent, I have no notes.
Those of you who have worked on shows with children will know that, unless you grab their attention from the start, you will be fighting against the tide and battling with noise. This particular production suffers greatly with that. While the children were excited when the initial story was being narrated, the following musical number and dialogue between characters lost their interest. This is not helped by some iffy sound mixing during the first number. By the time audience interaction came around, the children had begun talking to one another and the audience had become many groups, rather than one whole. That made it difficult for the actors to pull it back.

Fair play to the team – particularly Elias, Moors and Glyn – as they did manage to take back the attention of the room, and the second half was much better. They wouldn’t have had such a difficult job on their hands, however, if the script had been more accommodating of children’s attention spans and interests from the start. If you’re going with your little ones, be aware you might need to encourage them to stay focused in the first half.
Did we enjoy ourselves, though? We absolutely did. The cast are great, and there are some genuinely brilliant and creative comedy moments throughout the show. I would absolutely recommend this show if you’re looking for some Christmas giggles with the family – just make sure to dose your kids up on sweets during the interval, rather than before the show starts.
Beauty And The Beast, Lyric Theatre, Carmarthen, Sun 15 Dec
On until Sun 29 Dec. Tickets: £13.50-£22. Info: here
words HARI BERROW photos KIRSTEN MCTERNAN