Immersion Theatre are back at Harrow Arts Centre this panto season with a high-energy Dick Whittington and his Cat. As usual, the production includes a chorus rounded out by local youth performers, supporting the leading actors through some hilarious slapstick and punny jokes.
The action is tightly directed; the performers squeeze every ounce out of the jokes, and the pace of the bantering dialogue is breakneck, yet easy to follow. Unfortunately the musical direction was a bit uneven — while some songs were perfectly balanced and deftly rehearsed, others felt strained and with imbalanced harmonies. There was an unevenness to the mic quality as well, meaning that at times it was too loud, and at times too quiet.
This is unfortunate as these two elements undermined what was otherwise a very enjoyable panto.
Standout performances for me were Philip McParland as Cecily Sweetlove (whose costumes were out of this world) and Ben J Packer as Timmy the Tomcat, who was the energetic yet anchored glue of the cast. His capacity to be high energy yet complete genuine was exceptional, and his in-script improvisation for audience interaction was very strong.