Napoleon: Un Petit Pantomime. Jermyn Street Theatre.

The highly regarded chamber opera company Charles Court Opera’s 17^th annual production of what it describes as ‘boutique pantomime’ lands this winter in the form of John Savournin and David Eaton’s much anticipated Napoleon: A Petit Pantomime. Past productions have been on a peripatetic journey around London’s Off West End and pub venues, including the Rosemary Branch, King’s Head Theatre and Park Theatre. Last year’s creation Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime at the Jermyn Street Theatre won the ‘Offies’ gong for Best Panto. The company’s 2022 iteration Beowulf garnered five nominations including Best Panto and Best Musical Direction. No wonder this year’s show is on a host of critics’ Christmas recommendation lists.

Back at Jermyn Street again this year, Napoleon: A Petit Pantomime delivers the company’s trademark mix of high-quality singing and novel storytelling mashed up with traditional panto ingredients.  Anticipate face-paced and often groan-inducing humour, an inclusive take on stock characters, tremendous songs, audience interaction, and a suitably patriotic moral message. The show has a high-brow edge in some of its more esoteric cultural references but is light enough on innuendo to be family-friendly.

It is 1805. Fresh from a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar, the villainous Napoleon (Matthew Kellet channelling an entire back catalogue of ‘Allo ‘Allo! style cod French accents) seeks vengeance on the “bootlicking, monolingual, monarchist” Brexit Brits. The fairylike presence of the ghost of Marie Antoinette (Rosie Strobel boasts a gorgeous ice cream cone wig) emerges from the ether to assist the dictator in seizing a magical ruby from a vault in a London public toilet. The gem has dark magic within. Should it fall into French hands it promises ruin for the Brits. Can the fearless “British Bulldogs come up the Frenchies’ derrière”, save the national from a cruel fate, and ensure Napoleon finally meets his Waterloo?

Kellet’s “dictatorial autocrat with a massive bayonet” faces opposition in the form of animal-loving King George (Elliot Broadfoot eschews cross-dressing but being “partial to a cockatoo” makes a marvellous Dame anyway). The king’s feminist daughter Georgina (company stalwart Amy J Payne) wants to prove women are equal to men on the battlefield and drags up as principal boy Private George Michael to aid the nation’s defence. Comic sidekick The Duke Of Wellington (Jennie Jacobs with impeccable comic timing) mostly wants to bake pies and farm beef in the Cotswolds, but courageously rallies to his country’s aid too. With due deference to current preoccupations with fake news, finger-puppet Professor Chumley Smythe is on hand to ‘fact-check’ the performance. Add into the mix a budding romance between King George and Marie Antoinette.

David Eaton’s well-crafted song palette boasts a couple of solid original numbers, a sea shanty, and adapted songs from, amongst others, Queen, Lady Gaga, Bonnie Tyler, Elton John, Petula Clark Joe Cocker, Tina Turner and (of course) ABBA. Unsurprisingly given their opera background the cast sings beautifully, particularly in the many ensemble numbers, without threatening to overwhelm Jermyn Street’s diminutive space.

Benji Sperring’s pacey direction adds comic momentum to the madcap feel of the piece, even if audience interaction in the form of competitive cow-milking comes perilously close to feeling like filler. Lucy Fowler’s gorgeous pink, purple, and crimson costumes and set evoke sumptuous regency loucheness without crossing the line into outright camp. Battle maps on the floor and walls lay out what is at stake should the antagonist succeed in his aggressions. A worthy 17th addition to the company’s ‘boutique pantomime’ genre Napoleon A Petit Pantomime delivers a hugely enjoyable evening, with just the right mix of tradition, off-piste humour, and artisan creativity.

Writers:  John Savournin and David Eaton

Music and Lyrics: David Eaton

Directors:  John Savournin and Benji Sperring