With writer Johnny McKnight, direction from Darren Brownlie, design from the renowned Kenny Miller, and a cast that includes TV and theatre star Joyce Falconer, favourite Scottish panto bad guy George Drennan and stalwarts of the Scottish stage Gail Watson and Michele Gallagher, it would appear on paper that this should be a solid gold hit. Mumbelina however, proves to be one of the weakest efforts that McKnight (whose track record is almost unmatched in modern Scottish theatre) has ever committed to stage.
Our heroine, single mum Ina D.PePe (Falconer) is fed up to the back teeth with her three screaming weans and being treated like a doormat. She wishes that her life could be so much more – that her world could be so much bigger than it currently is. When Ina meets the magical green amphibian Froggie Mercury (Drennan) he promises her he can make her dreams come true. Unfortunately for the misguided Ina, instead of her world becoming the extravaganza she wants it to be, she is shrunk to the size of a teeny tiny bunny and descends into a world miles below the earth with her fellow prisoners Moley Parton (Watson) with the most perfect Dolly voice impersonation and Glamingo Starr (Gallagher) a would-be West End thesp.
Next ensues much mayhem as the gang eventually realise that their old lives were infinitely better and love is really all you need. Tunes from Novasound (Lauren Gilmour & Audrey Tait) and choreography by Amy Scott add to the action.
The cast are supremely talented and both deliver the lines and belt out the tunes with aplomb, but it’s the script that’s at fault. This has all the theatrical credentials and more, and should have been perfect, but the storyline is massively underdeveloped and the laughs just aren’t there. Previous summer pantomimes have been tears down your face, stomach-achingly funny in their one hour running time. This, heartbreakingly, is a huge, huge disappointment.
Runs until 20th July 2024 at Òran Mór, Glasgow