Sleeping Beauty
All photos: Fourth Wall Photography
Review by Martine Silkstone
The Marina Theatre is Lowestoft is currently welcoming festive audiences to its annual pantomime, Sleeping Beauty - and what a beauty it is!
Indeed, it’s everything you want from a panto - a funny script, a fabulous dame, a wonderfully wicked baddie and a happy ending that ensures you leave with a full heart and big smile on your face.
Katie-Elizabeth Allgood is..well..all good as The Lilac Fairy, and she sets the scene perfectly as the first on stage. Then enters our baddie, Carabosse - boo hiss - and it’s a wonderfully wicked portrayal by Nicole Faraday, complete with a dark glam and great vocals. Between these two, we are given the backstory of a spurned love, an evil curse and a royal baby with a dark destiny.
We all know the plot, right?
Bringing all the sweetness and gentle charm required of this classic fairytale, you have Alice Carlile as the slumbering Princess Ariana and Samuel Webb as her kissing-saviour Prince Benedict.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Lowestoft panto without Terry Gleed, who delights the crowd with a wealth of cheesy jokes and comic interactions as Chester the Jester.
Meanwhile, the long-legged Luke Byeford is back for another year as the Dame. This time it’s the fabulous Dolly, and she is just as saucy and funny as you want from a panto dame, with her colourful outfits and big hair. But actually Byeford gives a little more than that - not only wearing a kitten heel and rhinestone jumpsuit well (if somewhat disturbingly), but offering a superb singing voice and small moments of true emotion that really round out his character. I know panto is, by nature, a shallow, glossy, sugary treat - and this is all those things - but I loved those tiny little hints of something more; it’s those glimpses that truly elevated the show for me.
But don’t panic, all your favourite panto tropes are still there too, including a moist Singing in the Rain moment, an unusual version of 12 days of Christmas and a dinosaur lurking in the woods (for some reason) - all of which bring joy.
Special mention for the youngest members of the cast (from the June Glennie School of Dance) who were all simply wonderful - foot perfect in every one of their routines and adding a huge amount of sparkle whenever on stage.
In fact, kudos to the whole cast. The show we saw was a weekday matinee and the theatre was far from full, but every performer still gave it their all and while the audience was smaller than usual, they were soon happily engaged and joining in with gusto.
A brilliant live band along with all the great scenery, lighting and costumes complete this hugely entertaining panto package.
What more is there to say? I loved it!
Sleeping Beauty at Marina Theatre, Lowestoft until 1 January 2026.
FOR SHOW DETAILS AND BOOKING LINK, CLICK HERE