Theatre review: Ya Beauty and the Beast

Published on Thursday 10 December 2009 18:01

YA BEAUTY AND THE BEAST **** THE TRON, GLASGOW

FIRST, let's get one thing clear. If you want a clever, satirical meta-panto that skewers the current state of the world in a few great songs, cheerfully sends up Scottish panto culture, and offers a brilliant impression of Gerard Kelly into the bargain, then the Tron Theatre is not the place to be this year; for that, you have to clear a lunchtime, and go to Oran Mor.

If, on the other hand, you just fancy a couple of hours of crazy panto-inflected fun, featuring a fistful of fine performers and truckload of absurdist hilarity, then Ya Beauty and the Beast – co-written as usual by Fletcher Mathers and Gordon Dougall – is the perfect show for you.

It begins with a little riff on climate change; Christmas sun is blazing down on Glasgow, seas have risen, and we are at the Tron Bay Beach Bar, a sizzling spot in every way. Our Dame, Bunty Beautox (a fabulously unsentimental and leering Andy Clark) is trying to earn a living at Bunty's B&B when her efforts are interrupted by the louring evil of the Beast, Barfolemew Beastie, who needs to be released from a spell before the world can get back to rights. I think.

What follows is literally barking mad, as our pretty heroine Mary Hill (Bunty's niece) sprouts a beard and turns into a dog, and everyone ends up judging a beastie talent contest in a big top, with giant Tunnocks' tea cakes for seats.

The songs are terrible, Prince Charming's sidekick is an infuriating singing kangaroo, and the plot collapses long before the curtain falls. But somehow, everything works out just fine; thanks to the generous, jolly spirit of the show, and the sheer showbiz talent not only of Andy Clark's dame, but of Sally Reid's delicious Mary, and George Drennan's ever-gorgeous villain, who gives a trumpet solo to die for.