I took my youngest (Fran) “to work” with me this evening at The Little Theatre to review Leicester Drama Society’s ‘Dick Whittington’ as adapted by John Bale and we had fab seats on the end of row B. My review is going to be slightly different this time…..mainly because most of the reviewing has come from this rather lovely 9 year old (ok so I am biased) than me although I will be interjecting my own thoughts occasionally. I recorded a quick Q & A session as we waited for our lift home and this is what he thought.

Me: Did you have a good time today?
Fran: “Yes. It was lots of fun except when you stopped me hiding from the water pistols”.
The audience interaction was, as you would expect from any good pantomime, fabulous. It drew you into the moment and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed joining in with the “Big mistaky, wakey, wakey” audience participation bits and the obligatory sing along at the end – especially when the Mate Bill Cockle (played by Russell Webster) clocked me getting a little too involved and ‘outed’ me  (OK – I am a big kid at heart!!). Webster’s partnership with Captain Cockle (Allan Smith) also led to some witty moments throughout the show – especially when they set each other off corpsing with the Dame!

What was your favourite part of the show?
“I thought the ‘convenient’ bench was really funny”.
As this is our first time at a pantomime at the Little we hadn’t experienced ‘the bench’ before but it was obvious from the reactions of more regular audience members that it was a regular part of the pantomime and was well received.

Who was your favourite character and why?
“Jack. He was the most funny person on earth”
Idle Jack (Thom Jones) was excellent at bringing the audience along for the ride. The “Buttons” character of the show  – he was funny and charismatic.

How about Dick Whittington and Tommy the Cat?
“Tommy the cat was my second favourite character because he scared all the rats away and he was the hero of the day and he was cute as well”.
Hiding the fact that it was Tommy’s fault that Dick Whittington got into trouble in the first place Lyd Rushton’s cat was endearing and you could suspend any reality that panto leaves you with and actually believe it was a cat.

And Dick Whittington?

(a little confusion at the beginning of Fran’s response because of the principle boy tradition of panto)
“He…..is it a he or she?….I liked him because he’s like most heroes where they save the day”
Rose Adams portrayal of the titular character alongside Ellie Cassie’s “Alice Fitzwarren” was a strong pairing with some lovely duets together as they fell in love with each other. It was also lovely to see the ensemble being involved as much as they were. A lovely group of dancers that complimented the principles.

What are your thoughts about Sarah Fitzwarren, the Dame?
“I really liked her because she had loads of funny dresses like dames do and she was always like ‘I am going to change my dress one more time’ ready for the bows”
John Bale’s dame was everything you would like to see in a panto dame. Sarcastic, dry, funny and, as Fran said, with ‘all sorts’ of rather cool dresses that laid the groundworks for some comedic moments….especially when the wave dress nearly took out a younger visitor to the stage…..shouldn’t laugh I know but 😀

What did you think of the baddie? King Rat?
“I liked him”.
Why did you like him?
“I like him because at the end he turned good and, in the bows, he dressed in red sparkles”
Simon Butler (as King Rat) was very good as a pantomime villain and the audience took no time whatsoever in practising their booing and hissing – especially when encouraged to do so by the evil villain himself. His gruff voice and dark costume was counterpoint to the sparkly and good ‘Spirit of the Bells’ (Kieran Whelan-Newby) and their well sung duets were fun to watch.

Were you joining in with the song at the end?
“Ohhhhh yes I did” before starting to sing it again a few times…..he got distracted at this point as he started to tell me how he had learned this song at school and then headed off on a tangent so that was the end of the interview although my final question was actually the first one I asked him…

How many stars would you give for the show?
“100 out of 100.”

We’ll take that as a full five stars for Dick Whittington at The Little Theatre which is running until January 4th 2026. Tickets are available here.

Finally – one special mention goes to Paul Timms, the musical director and his seemingly unending supply of headgear! We had as much fun checking out each new look as it appeared! From Elves to aliens we loved the subtle addition to the show.

Photo credits to Jonathan Pryke. Tickets gifted for an honest review.