Dick Whittington (And His Meerkat), York Theatre Royal, stationed at Signal Box Theatre, National Railway Museum, York

THIS is the first ever pantomime in a traverse staging.

The audience gathers on Platform 1 or 2 in ten rows of seating either side of a train track in the 1,000-seat Signal Box Theatre at the National Railway Museum. Short of bumping into Berwick Kaler in the street, you will never ever be as close to the dowager dame as this one-off residency. 

Kaler's dame Paloma Polony passes a note to a young man to read and later admonishes him for picking his nose with a whoosh of his hand. There will be more of this banter in his 37th panto as he settles into his temporary home from home before normal service is resumed next winter at the redeveloped York Theatre Royal. 

In essence, this show is the "same old rubbish", except that now the rubbish is being put out in different ways in a show built around travel, locomotion and locomotives, in keeping with the NRM setting.

York Press:

Not only trains, but a ship too at the National Railway Museum. Picture: Anthony Robling

The cast must project by constantly moving, more like in a theatre-in-the round; there can be no water slapstick or flying in from above; the action is side-on rather than facing you. 

There are not one but two proscenium arches, in the form of tunnel entrances, beautifully designed with glitter frosting by Mark Walters and lit by Richard G Jones, with Elliot Styche leading his band atop one.

The cast enter from either end. Sometimes, they will be on board carts that carry the scenery, pushed and pulled by the tireless men in black, the unsung heroes of this physically demanding show. At other times, they will make comic play of being on opposing platforms, especially Kaler and Martin Barrass.

York Press:

David Leonard as Herman Vermin, alias King Rat, in Dick Whittington. Picture: Anthony Robling

David Leonard's villain, Herman Vermin, no longer has his traditional baddie's side to prowl, but as the music thunders beneath your seats, he still makes a spectacular entry high above the seating. The traverse stage robs him of some of his dark-art intimidation, but the chance to see his expressions, the detail of his attire, the composition of his make-up, so close up is a fascinating one. 

Indeed, you can appreciate the costumes like never before, such as the London Underground map in one of several rail-themed outfits by Walters for Kaler. Should you wish to read anything into the dame's strategically placed Mind The Gap sign or several saucy references, that is entirely up to you in this increasingly camp sight in a tent.

There is still the now traditional film, with Harry Gration at its centre, and an underwater UV lighting scene, using the tunnel netting last seen in The Railway Children in the summer, while the dancers come into their own much more in the new setting, not least in the ship scene.

Grace Harrington's choreography works a treat too for Lily Allen's Why Be Anywhere Else?, Funky Hunk (Uptown Funk) and Shake Your Bon Bon.

York Press:

Martin Barrass's Willy Polony, the dame's son with thespian ambitions. Picture: Anthony Robling

Martin Barrass works his socks off, racing up and down the platforms to switch between Willy Polony, the dame's son with thespian ambitions, and Mayor Cheapskate (with a couple of topical gags at Councillor Sonia Crisp's expense).

Suzy Cooper's ditzy Charlotte Cheapskate and the returning Vincent Gray's Dick Whittington are in fine form and Dick Whittington's feline friend is no mere cat but a meerkat, AJ Powell's scene-stealing Brummie Mr Finickerty.

York Press:

No mere cat: AJ Powell as Mr Finickerty, Dick Whittington's meerkat. Picture: Anthony Robling

The very vaguely familiar story is typically full of flights of fancy from writer/co-director Kaler, who weaves paleontology, Spain, Africa and Neanderthals into "the plot", as his train of thought takes him further and further down an alternative track, but somehow never quite off the rails! 

 

Dick Whittington (And His Meerkat) runs until January 24 2016.