It may be the season to be jolly and what better way to get into the jolly mood than with an adult pantomime. I returned to, what has now become a regular venue for me, The Garden Theatre for their seasonal offering. We were treated to Frostbite. Who Pinched My Muff?

Frostbite was set in Vauxhallen and the evil Demon Frostbite makes a deal with his sister Fairy Snowflake that if he can turn the purest of hearts evil then she will leave, but if he fails he will be banished to somewhere warm! He therefore sets out to turn Dame Herda Gerda’s heart whilst her son, Garbo makes it his mission to win over the Bergermesiter’s daughter, Greta. Oh and we have to mention Lumiukko, a snowman who is created by Fairy Snowflake to keep an eye on everything going on.

The show was written by Gareth Joyner and the story itself is easy to follow and allows plenty of time for traditional pantomime frivolity and clearly pitches good v evil throughout. There are also plenty of local and current references throughout the show to keep the audience chuckling with in jokes.

The songs chosen are well pitched with everything from Home and Away, The Greatest Showman and Hairspray. It was also nice that they often chose not to use the full song but a cut down version which stopped the joke from wearing too thin and meant that we could be treated to more of a variety of song choice.

The cast were all superb and I was pleased to see that there was a mixture of seasoned processionals in the show alongside some fresh new graduates. The whole cast was excellent with Bessy Ewa as a very flirtatious Greta who danced beautifully, Dereck Walker as a wonderfully likeable and equally as crude Dame Herda Gerda and Shelly Rivers as our principle boy Garbo who managed to get the audience chucking along with her for simply slapping her thigh but it was James Lowrie as Lumiukko who stole the show for me. He had the challenge of playing a sickly sweet snowman and not annoying the adult audience but the twinkle in his eye and cheeky grin as well as his energy he brought to the whole of his performance ensured the he had the audience on side from the start.

The adult content was also very funny although at times I think they could have pushed some entendre even further or have some more adults jokes in there however this is nit picking as it was miles and miles away from ‘family’ entertainment and not recommended to the easily offended.

Frostbite. Who Pinched My Muff is a brilliantly funny adult pantomime, with a talented cast. it was a wonderful way to spend the evening and genuinely helped get me into the festive spirit. It is testament to the production that the cast really didn’t need to encourage the audience to shout louder at appropriate moments, we all brought into it right from the beginning. Therefore if you are looking for some adult festive cheer I would recommend getting yourself down to Vauxhallen.

Frostbite. Who Pinched my Muff? is on at The Garden Theatre until 10th January. Tickets can be brought on their website.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Potted Panto, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical and Alice In Streamingland.