Adam Smith Theatre panto: Sleeping Beauty – a great night out for all ages

It’s a tale as old as time, given a gentle re-working for 2024, and packed with ‘way more local references than you can possibly count. The young audience certainly lapped it all up - it’s definitely one for the family if Friday’s audience was typical of the run so far.

And it’s a great night out for all ages with plenty music, comedy, and some slapstick in the mix.

It wastes no time setting the scene. The King (Joshua Scott) and Queen have a beautiful baby girl who is cursed, and we start on the eve of her 18th birthday where she either pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls asleep or is rescued with the kiss from a true love.

Enter Prince William (not that one) of St Andrews - it quickly becomes a running gag in the first half, possibly a few times too many - who is adamant he wouldn’t marry someone he’d never met, bringing this story neatly into the days of ‘Married At First Sight’ only to then fall for Rose (Kim Shepherd) the King’s foster daughter.

The story rattles along with plenty pace, with Gill McGowan bringing much warmth and sparkle to her role as the rhyming Good Fairy which is balanced perfectly by Lorraine Graham’s wicked Carabosse. She soon has the boos ringing around theatre!

Colin Little’s dame, Nurse Philippa Bedpan, and Scott Watson’s silly billy, Daft Duncan of Dysart bring the comedy - Watson quickly builds a rapport with the youngsters in the audience. They also get to have fun with some slapstick, but the cooking scene needed more mayhem and mess to really make it crackle.

Adding a Proclaimers song or two to the show is always a sure-fire way of getting folk to sing.

Sleeping Beauty delivers everything you expect and want from a panto - couple, fun, comedy and an escape into a very different world.

The creation of Smithy’s Snack Shack in the Beveridge Suite is a great addition too - free puzzles for the weans, plenty space to chill and you can watch the panto on the big screen if you need time away from the audience.

Perhaps the biggest surprise were the empty seats in the back five rows of the theatre. Kirkcaldy has a panto tradition that stretches back generations, and the buzz of a full house is always something special. There’s work to be done off stage to fill those seats and really untap the magic of panto …