Dick Whittington
Dick Whittington
Poole Lighthouse Theatre
Review Complete
“A Wonderfully Joyous evening of full of fun and laughter.”
12th December 2025
We watched the show on a very dark, wet and windy evening so we were hoping that the panto would be worth venturing out on such a miserable night. To our joy and relief, it was most definitely worth it! It did not disappoint.
From the very first moment of Fairy Bowbelles, played by the beautiful Bernadette Bangura, it was evident that we were in for a real treat. Her costumes, her fabulous singing and enchanting characterisation nurtured us through a tumultuous time and into a happy ending.
The laughs came thick and fast from the talented cast who filled the stage with their larger than life characters and none more so than our panto favourite Chris Jarvis who not only wrote and directed the show, but gifted us with his infectious portrayal of the luscious Dame Dolly Doughnuts. We were spoilt with his abundance of incredible costume changes, a surprising stunt and off-the-cuff comments and ad-libs, Chris didn’t let us down as the audience revelled in his naughtiness and brilliant facial expressions.
The young love interests Dick and Alice Fitzwarren were played perfectly by Kieran Morris and Isabella Kibble, with just the right amount of comedy and love to keep us rooting for them. And there’s no Dick without his trusted sidekick cat, Tommy. There was no stopping our flexible feline friend as he somersaulted his way through the show with an abundance of energy and ’cattitude’! Corben Heward-Mills really made the ‘meowst’ of his part!
Robert Rees portrayed Alice’s dad, Alderman Fitzwarren, with command and comedic qualities, leading us to enjoy a particularly funny and quite brilliant scene with Dame Dolly and Dick aboard the Saucy Sal ship.
However, no panto is complete without a villain to boo and hiss at and this character was brought to us by the very talented Sarah-Louise Young as King Rat. A brilliant and engaging performance along with fabulous singing made me confused as to whether I loved or loathed him!
The show was made complete with the combination of the most spectacular staging, lights, sets, energetic dance routines performed flawlessly by an incredible ensemble and a stunningly fabulous orchestra to boot!
I have to say, I loved the very special (and very silly) Sister Act moment in the show incorporating one of my favourite songs in the most hilarious way!
I caught up with a couple of audience members after the show who had this to say: “Very funny and I think the adults found it funnier than the children. I laughed very, very hard!” Laura
“Fabulous, raucous fun for all the family, I loved every minute of it from the beginning to the end. “ Claire
The show runs until Sunday 4th January with a relaxed performance on Friday 2nd January at 6pm.
If you are looking for a fun night out, you won’t get better than this.
Reviewer: Sally Cooper
Photography: Jayne Jackson
We are Gifted tickets so that in return we may give an honest review. All comments are those of the reviewer and theirs alone.