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16 December 2025
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2**
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I hate to end the theatrical year on a bit of a downer, but do you ever get the feeling of déjà vu? When Shane Richie was the headline star of the Theatre Royal Plymouth pantomime in 2022 our review said the following about Crossroads; “the more pantomimes you see from this company, the more the feeling that, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen the lot.” With an improvement in 2023 and an excellent production in 2024, this year’s offering is back to square one. Yes, we have seen it all before, the plot which can be written on the back on a postage stamp is so non-existent and full of holes, it is amazing there is a writing credit at all. All the routines have been seen before, multiple times – the tongue-twister one, as usual completely outstays its welcome – there is virtually nothing original apart from the lapses into humour some of which we thought we had left behind.
Essentially this is incredibly lazy work, but these pantomimes try to bedazzle the audience with glitzy costumes and reasonably decent sets, but beneath the surface there is nothing. Yes, Shane Richie is very good at connecting with the audience, but there is just a hint that he is on remote control. Samuel Holmes can hardly move at times and has good stage presence, his aside to a stagehand after which he said “write letters” was inexcusable, even if it was ‘in the script’. Anne Smith is a decent villain, but her singing vocals were not quite up to it. Iain Stuart Robertson had fun as the Sarah, the Cook, but the sound balancing was pretty poor at times and I struggled to hear a lot of what he said. Emily Beth Harrington, as Alice, also suffered from sound issues, but did what she needed to well enough. The ensemble worked hard throughout but must have spent most of their time getting in and out of costumes. The young performers, recruited locally, were well disciplined and kept smiling throughout. The band were very loud and played heartily and the choreography was simple but reasonably effective.
For the virtually full house, much of what I have written won’t matter a jot, there were gales of laughter during the whole show, while I found much of it barely reached the ‘slight smirk’ level. Pantomimes used to have much more substance to them, but Crossroads seem to have created a formula of simple, not to say, simplistic shows which fool people into thinking they are seeing something much better than it actually is. It is the Emperor’s New Clothes in pantomime form. As a member of the audience I find it rather insulting and as if I am being taken for a mug.
The show will be a success despite these words and it is so good to see so many having fun, but they deserve a whole lot better.
Cast
Dick Whittington – Shane Richie
Spirit of Bow Bells – Samuel Holmes
Queen Rat – Anne Smith
Alice Fitzwarren – Emily Beth Harrington
Sarah, the Cook – Iain Stuart Robertson
Kitty Cat – Kira McPherson
Ensemble – Lucy-Mae Baker, Jaycee Bell, Oliver Craven, Harvey Morris, Arjun Mudahar, Lauren Pierce, Lucy Surgeon, Layla-Grace Vrahimis
Creatives
Writer – Alan McHugh
Additional material – Shane Richie, Samuel Holmes, Matt Slack
Director – Ian Talbot
Choreographer – Richard Peakman
Musical Director – Duncan Waugh
Set Designer – Ian Westbrook
Lighting Designer – Nick Richings
Sound Designer – Nick Lodge
Costume Designer – Teresa Nalton
