Review: Snow White (Emerald Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You don’t have to look far to find a pantomime at the moment, with theatres up and down the country full of Dames, children’s characters, panto legends and forgotten pop stars all somehow sharing a stage together in what can only feel like a fever dream. If the idea of seeing Sooty, Su Pollard and Sinitta together doesn’t quite float your boat, you’ll be pleased to know that TuckShop are back with their annual Drag offering. Now in its fifth year, their panto prides itself on celebrating the very best of Drag with a collection of Kings and Queens putting their own spin on a different fairytale each time. This year, it’s Snow White getting the TuckShop treatment, but in a year that saw a less-than-favourably received movie adaptation of the classic story, will this pantomime manage to be better than that, or will it all be a bit of a Drag?

Though TuckShop’s pantomimes are now an annual fixture at various West End theatres, they have deliberately avoided getting glossier with time. Instead, their rough-around-the-edges nature is all part of its charm. Every prop is made with cardboard from mobile phones to a Labubu (yes, you read that right) - in other hands, it all might seem a bit cheap and impact the quality, but crucially TuckShop are in on the joke, even going so far as to have one character comment on the cardboard nature, adding “we put all the budget on Kyran Thrax”. You can’t help but buy into the madcap, haphazard nature of the panto - it may not be as slick and polished as the Palladium pantomime, but sometimes all you want is a Drag Queen forgetting a line and attempting to go on with the scene anyway.

When they did remember their lines, Kate Butch, Crudi Dench and Eleanor Mason craft a nonsensical version of Snow White, taking the elements audiences expect and flipping them on their head. The Magic Mirror loves a Michael Jackson impression, the seven dwarves are now one dazzling diva, and the evil Queen is… well, still an evil Queen. This panto is full of pop culture references from the last year and beyond, so expect a smattering of Jet2, Jojo Siwa and Heather from Eastenders as well as no shortage of references to past series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, of which several of the cast have appeared. Musical theatre fans get a smattering of jokes too, and a personal favourite of mine was a niche but iconic moment from Glee that can only be described as a crowd-pleaker. Even if some of the jokes fly over your head, there’s no shortage of humour to be had, whether it is scripted or not, in a beautifully messy production that had me howling with laughter throughout.

Chaos is the key word here, but it got to the stage where you just had to embrace it and accept what will be, will be. Fluffed lines, frequent breaks of laughter as one of the cast said something unexpected, and cast members tripping over each other’s lines didn’t detract from the production at all; instead made it all the funnier. Seeing what a good time these performers were having (even if at times it felt like this was the first time they had done the show) made the audience have an equally good time. You don’t go to a panto for the plot anyway, and with Snow White, I’m assured there was a plot in there somewhere. Where though, I couldn’t tell you and, quite honestly, I couldn’t care.

The success of any TuckShop production is largely down to Christopher D. Clegg, who directs Snow White in a way that allows the chaos to thrive, all the while trying to steer a ship that seems determined to hit the iceberg no matter what. I mean that as a compliment - I can’t tell how much of Snow White was planned, and how much was off the cuff, and I can credit Clegg for that. If the cast and creatives are having fun, the audience will too, and some of the ways this story has been realised are a fitting testament to that. One thing’s for sure - you can’t accuse this production of being boring!

It is the cast that makes Snow White as hilarious as it is. If you’ve ever watched an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race and enjoyed the banter, reading and roasting the Queens have with each other, imagine that but unedited, and you get a good idea of where this panto is going. It is all in good fun, with some light ribbing and each performer giving as good as they get. Whether it is Ophelia Love in her now traditional role of Villager No. 4, or comments about Kitty Scott-Claus' weight loss, and all the varying things she looks like (She’s a magical winter fairy), it was all enjoyably tongue-in-cheek, fittingly enough for a panto that wears its queerness with pride.

Tayriis Mongardi takes on the title role of Snow White, brilliantly delivering a version of RAYE’s current hit ‘Where Is My Husband?’ and attempting to anchor the show when the story seems to get lost. Kyran Thrax is an absolute force as the Wicked Queen, perfectly embodying a panto villain while not being afraid to push the boundaries further than Su Pollard might do - if you think a cast member isn’t going to call an audience member a four-letter word, think again. Yshee Black is marvellously mad as the magic mirror, while Tiana Biscuit makes up for her absence in Act One by bringing the house down with incredible vocals and one of the most hilarious turns in a standout performance. Kate Butch is another highlight as the Huntsthem, showcasing incredible stage presence and performing a number from Death Becomes Her just because she can.

I keep mentioning the chaos, and for good reason, as it was impossible to escape - and who would even want to? The chaos peaked in a climactic sequence riffing on the twelve days of Christmas in one of the most beautifully unhinged things I have seen in a theatre in quite some time. As the cast fumbled their props, missed their lines, struggled to keep up to speed, all my focus was on how much Kate Butch could stuff in her mouth in one musical number. This sequence alone summed up why pantomime can be so irresistibly fun.

Is Snow White the slickest panto on stage at the moment? Not at all, but does it make a blind bit of difference? Not a bit. Absolutely ridiculous but completely infectious, the ticket price is worth it alone just to see some of the UK’s finest Drag Kings and Queens interact with each other, perform some numbers, swear a lot and make each other laugh. I didn’t care how much was going wrong when every misstep made it feel so right. All I know is I was laughing my head off from start to finish, and there can never be anything wrong with that. Certainly the most chaotic thing you will ever see in the theatre, this is one fairytale well worth taking a bite from.

Snow White plays at Emerald Theatre until 4th January. Tickets from https://allthatdazzles.londontheatredirect.com/pantomime/snow-white-drag-panto-tickets

Photos by Harry Elletson