Kirkcaldy’s ‘wee panto’ Ya Wee Beauty & The Beastie celebrates huge success as curtain falls on final show

The show played to full houses across its five-week run at the Kings Theatre in the Lang Toun, selling an extraordinary 96% of tickets for its 40 shows, which included matinees, schools performances and some adults only party nights. Audience reaction was consistent from the opening night at the start of December right through to Saturday’s final performance, with huge praise for the cast, the show and the venue.

Billed as “made in Kirkcaldy, for Kirkcaldy” the panto was again directed by Jonathon Stone and co-written with Mark McDonnell who also appeared as Jings in the cast of five.

It took the traditional story of Beauty And The Beast and wrapped it around a poignant lament for the Lang Toun and the losses it has suffered socially and economically across several generations, and also captured the sense of pride about the town and the hope it will be revived once more.

That was captured beautifully in the closing song, Kirkcaldy My Home, which was such a highlight for many that the team has now posted its lyrics on to its Facebook page. It was adapted from the hit film ‘Fisherman’s Friend’ with lyrics by Mark and arranged by the show’s musical director Stephen Roberts. That mixture also struck a chord with critics with three four-star reviews, including one from the highly respected Joyce MacMillan in The Scotsman giving it her ringing endorsement.

There were also many standing ovations for the cast which included panto legend Billy Mack, Kirsty Strachan, Robin MacKenzie and Sarah Brown Cooper, and Graham Scott providing the voice of the Mer-Cat. Graham also built the sets which added so much to the panto with a back cloth specifically commissioned from Crail based artist Lilias Conroy who transformed Kirkcaldy High Street and historic buildings in Kirk Wynd into the perfect panto setting.

With a team of volunteers running front of house, the show brought huge numbers of people into the waterfront venue for the first time - and, almost without exception, they left with a very positive impression.

Jonathon said: “A huge thank you to the people of Kirkcaldy for taking us to their heart and supporting their local panto.”

Ya Wee Beauty was the third annual panto staged at the venue, but the biggest in terms of its run and scale, and the venue now hopes that many first time visitors will return when it unveils its new season of live music which gets underway shortly.

John Murray, chair of the Kings Theatre Trust said: “This panto production exceeded all expectations, and as audiences agreed was even better than the high standard achieved last year. A flurry of four-star reviews and universal approval from audiences make all the challenges from power loss to flooding all the more rewarding. Grateful thanks to all cast, crew, creatives, staff and volunteers who made this possible.”