Beauty and the Beast from Mars - The Stage

Miracle Theatre’s update on the usual panto format is an affectionate sci-fi send-up of wobbly 1960s culture that scoops up squirmy rock ‘n’ roll, prickly space monsters and barmy scientists. Modern wizardry like video animation and back projection enhances the nostalgia as we hurtle through a spirited tale littered with delicious malaprops and techno-babble that display Miracle’s abiding joy in language. Deep in the comedy there’s also a splinter of satire about the bunkum of celebrity as rock legend Bobby Beauty worships his own charisma before being brought down to size by acne and a spell in some underwhelming white Y-fronts. As you’d expect from Miracle, the show bristles with feisty performances. Dame-with-a-difference Benjamin Dyson excels as the skirted army major in hot pursuit of rocket defence codes, and Tom Adams slips from soppy boy to chart-topper with charm and ease. Rebecca Rowe extracts maximum comedy from dippy Nurse Bumper, and Catherine Lake bestrides her roles of professor and Martian vamp with confidence and panache. However, so much of the show’s humour and plot relies on allusion and wit that it’s worth asking whether it’s almost too clever to engage very young children.