HAWTH THEATRE PANTO REVIEW: Havers will have you Hooked!

WHEN you see a well-respected English actor parodying the Oscar-winning film he is best known for dressed as Captain Hook, you know you are in for a good time.

And that’s what you have in store if you want to see Nigel Havers hamming it up to the max at the Hawth Theatre, Crawley, this festive season.

In this very polished and professional panto, Havers headlines as the scheming Captain Hook, and what an entrance he makes, singing in an Elvis style with some scantily-clad lady pirates danciing aaround him.

It’s a long way from Chariots of Fire!

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I thought it would take a lot to top Craig Revel Horwood in Snow White last year, but the Hawth really have pulled out all the stops, and Havers is clearly having the time of his life on the stage.

But he not the only star. Kerris Peeling shows all the gusto and enthusiasm you expect from a Peter Pan and her duel with Hook in slow motion to that famous Vangelis score from Chariots of Fire was a highlight.

Isobel Hathaway skates around flawlessly as Tinkerbell and Rachel Spry adds some good humour as the mermaid.

Lucy St Louis also shines as Tiger Lilly in an underused role, but she proved she has a singing voice that would beat any X Factor contestant,

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But the heart and soul of the show is Jon Clegg as Smee. The local lad has now done three of the last four pantos at the Hawth and it’s easy to see why they keep booking him.

He keeps the whole show relevant with all his X Factor, I’m A Celebrity and Only Way is Essex references and really knows how to get the audience involved.

The sets are great, the songs are catchy and the crocodile is done very well.

So if you haven’t got your ticket yet, you are missing out. A top notch panto which will appeal to everyone in the family.

Peter Pan is on until December 31. Call the box office on 01293553636.

Mark Dunford