‘Nigel Fartage creates a toxic stench wherever he goes’
The show begins with Dick on board the Empire Windrush on his way to make his fortune in London Town. It is a long and lonely voyage so he befriends the ship’s elderly cat. Dick has some anxieties about leaving Jamaica but Fairy Bowbells has his back to ease his mind, writes Michael Holland.
Susie McKenna’s script ensures the heart and soul is in SE London, while director Pete Rowe captures the early travails of the Windrush Generation.
On docking, Dick (Durone Stokes) is a little lost so Fairy Bowbells (Lisa Davina Phillip) turns the cat into human form so he has a friend. That means the welcome inclusion of cool dude Uncle Vincent (Wayne Rollins) who likes to get down and groove just as much as he likes to lay down and catnap.
Of course there is a baddie and she comes in the form of Queen Rat (Natasha Lewis) who wants to rule London, so doesn’t like another cat on the block and does her best to get rid of Dick by fitting him up to look like a thief. She even has a rat in her crew called Nigel Fartage who creates a toxic stench wherever he goes.
Alice Fitzwarren (Fergie Fraser) is the kind face and love interest who knows Dick is a good man, so she and Auntie Sarah the Cook (Justin Brett – who has all the best costumes and arrives with all ‘buns glazing’…), and her father Alderman Fitzwarren (Ben Fox) find a way to fight the badness that besets Dick’s journey.
This is panto with all the necessary tropes but with more than the usual message of good winning over evil. This has Dick being told to ‘go back to where you came from’, as well encountering signs on lodging houses that tell him, ‘ No dogs, Irish or Blacks’, plus, white people looking down their nose at Alice and Dick’s inter-racial relationship. Everything is on the table here and is dealt with through song, dance and more people on the side of good to make sure the battle is won for a happy ending.
Best old joke of the night was given to Alderman Fitzwarren: ‘I’ve been very lonely since I lost my wife… What a card game that was!’ Boom Boom!
Dick Whittington and his Catford Cat is aimed directly at its wonderful South London audience and, just like Uncle Vincent, we lapped it up.
Broadway Theatre until December 31st
Booking and full details: https://www.broadwaytheatre.org.uk/events/dick-whittington-and-his-catford-cat
