Snow White @ Kings Theatre, Glasgow

Review by Neil Weaving | 05 Jan 2016

The King’s Theatre’s Snow White is a ‘traditional’ panto in the modern sense, which means it takes the plot of a Disney movie, peppers the script with nods to pop culture and local place names, and works in some chart-topper dance numbers in the vein of Shrek. If you pictured a pantomime of Snow White it would probably look like this, though the extent to which it displays its Disney influences makes you wonder what the tradition might resemble in a world where Mickey Mouse never caught on.

As ever, the villains are the best bit: Juliet Cadzow (Balamory’s Edie McCredie) oozes joyful malice as the Wicked Queen while Gregor Fisher (Rab C. Nesbitt) makes Hector, her henchman, work as both bumbling goon and exasperated straight-man, riffing off the audience and his fellow performers. The show is at its strongest when they’re on together; unfortunately it’s at its weakest when it’s stuck being Snow White, with the titular princess all too passive until the final showdown, and the seven dwarves struggling under the play’s laziest writing: a quip likening ‘homeless’ Snow White to a Big Issue seller felt particularly misjudged without an attempt to make its teller the punchline.

But overall, Snow White mostly works: the sets are varied and impressively glittery, the plot progresses at a reasonable clip, and the dance numbers are well choreographed and exciting. It might not be novel, but it’s vital enough to make a fun night at the theatre if you’re not already pantoed out.


Snow White, The King's Theatre, until 10 Jan (not 25 Dec, 1 or 5 Jan), times vary, £11.90-£32.90

http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/snow-white/kings-theatre/