Review: Sleeping Beauty at the Theatre Royal, Wakefield

Performances of the fairytale classic, which has been rewritten with a local twist, began on November 28 and continue until January 7 at the famed theatre on Westgate.

I was very grateful to be invited to the show on Thursday, November 30, and was pleasantly surprised by the diverse range of ages also in attendance.

From children to grandparents, families and friends – attendees of all ages were excited for the show.

Set in Wakeyland, the plot starts with people rejoicing as Old King Cole, played by Chris Chilton, announces the arrival of a baby princess.

The fairies are called to bestow blessings upon the babe, but one fairy, Nocturna, played by Rosanna Miles, has other ideas.

The performance was incredible, with the audience, and myself, in fits of laughter throughout.

From a very hilarious 12 days of Christmas spoof, which had the cast running to keep in time to the incredible sets that kept you captivated, I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage.

The standout performance came from the show’s writer and pantomine dame, Chris Hannon as Nanny Nora, who stole the show with his witty one-liners and hilarious improv skills.

Chris’s incredible writing must also be appaluded as the show kept all the great traditional pantomime traditions while exploring the story of Sleeping Beauty in greater depth.

The audience found themselves attached to these much-loved character tropes including Rosanna Miles’ villain and Hannah Nuttall’s magical hero, Fairy Dawn.

In fact, I found myself sitting in front of a young girl who asked where Fairy Dawn was whenever she had left the stage, which was adorable.

An unexpected duo was Nanny Nora and Daniel, a brave man in the front row chosen by the dame to be the butt of many hilarious jokes which he happily took on the chin for the audience’s amusement.

Also returning to the Theatre Royal stage was singer and double BAFTA award-winning TV presenter, Sam Nixon, who shined as Chester the Jester.

Sam’s great chemistry with the crowd was apparent everytime he yodelled, and the audience yodelled back.

One particular highlighted scene for me was the spoof of Britain’s Got Talent with cast members auditioning to perform at Aurora’s 18th birthday party.

The hilarious scene saw Nanny Nora in an incredible metallic dress, Chester’s attempt to serenade Fairy Dawn and George Crawford’s character, Sir Roger of Ryhill, delivering a very unexpected but very well executed song choice.

The music choices were also great with Take That’s “Greatest Day” chosen as the primary love song between Aurora and Roger and Kylie’s smash hit “Padam, Padam” reimagined as an opposing villanous love song.

Both Hannah Nutall as Fairy Dawn and Meg Elsegood as Aurora showed off their incredible vocal abiities throughout – it is clear that they were born to perform.

Overall, Sleeping Beauty is the theatre’s best pantomime yet with a great story, an incredibly talented cast and a magical atmosphere that made it great for all ages.

For a great laugh this Christmas, I highly recommend you attend.

The theatre has also announced that next year’s pantomine will be Cinderella. If it’s anything like Sleeping Beauty, I say bring it on!

Tickets are still available via: https://www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk/events/sleeping-beauty-2023