Theatre
Merry Poppins
Malta Fairs and Conference Centre, Ta’ Qali

While PL Travers might not be the first author whose stories one would associate with Christmas panto, the complete reinvention of her much-loved character – everyone’s favourite nanny – Mary Poppins, by the MADC in their Christmas pantomine was a clever move. Mostly down to writer and director Malcolm Galea’s incredibly funny and inventive script, the theatre company’s annual ‘Alan Montanaro Show’ was hard to beat in terms of its comedic value.

The London connection was severed completely by transferring the Banks family to Pastizziland (Malta), where Mr Banks became Governor Banks (Francesco Nicodeme) accompanied by his very patient wife, Mrs Banks (Katja Brauneis) and their two unruly children Jane and Mikey, played by Mandy Randon and Luke Saydon respectively, who appear to be responsible for a certain beautiful theatre to catch fire.

The role of narrator/loveable sidekick Bertu was entrusted to Joseph Zammit, whose attempt at a cockney accent seemed to simulate Dick Van Dyke’s equally unauthentic one. When Lord and Lady Richman (John Montanaro and Katherine Brown) come to the rescue and offer to foot the bill for the damage caused, the citizens of Pastizziland are relieved, but the Bankses decide that their children need a nanny to get them to behave and keep them on the straight and narrow. Enter Mikey’s desire to have Mary Poppins thwarted by his atrocious spelling – thus ensuring that her second cousin twice removed, Merry Poppins, emerges from her very large carpet bag instead.

Merry Poppins made the most of the aces up its sleeve and delivered an even, fast-paced plot with struck a chord with young and old alike

Alan Montanaro was his usual scintillating self as a Dame, reusing mannerisms and catchphrases from previous pantos, to build up a multilayered aura around the character of the Dame, making Merry Poppins another persona which his Dame can take on.

So Merry Poppins drags them along to the Fun Zone together with Bertu, where they meet a host of zany characters including Double Daisy, played by Chiara Hyzler and Steffi Thake, who explains how the Dark Duke Derek (Alex Gatesy Lewis) plans to forcibly marry Princess Fuzzyfluff (Taryn Mamo Cefai) and take control of the Fun Zone, ruling it for his evil parents, who turn out to be none other than Lord and Lady Richman.

In true panto style, this was truly a family show in terms of the fact that it focused on the importance of valuing your children and on parent-child relationships. It was, however, a very adult show in a different sense and was enjoyed by a mature audience because it was replete with clever, topical political jokes – with the call out catchphrase being particularly memorable.

From his banter with the grown-ups being brought on stage to his cheeky remarks with the children, Montanaro has lost none of his flair from year to year – playing the role with energy and a very evident sense of fun; and thanks to Ernest Camilleri’s zany costumes and outrageous wigs by Michael and Guy, the hilarity was guaranteed.

Galea’s winning formula was combining his tightly woven writing with a generally strong cast, playing to the strengths of his performers – with Luke Saydon, Joseph Zammit, Katja Brauneis and Katherine Brown giving great tweaked renditions of popular songs and making the most of their vocal talent.

Musical director Paul Abela led the cast in an enjoyable and occasionally giggle-inducing list of numbers marred only by the corruption of the by now over-sung and overdone song Let it Go from Disney’s Frozen, sung by Mamo Cefai as Princess Fuzzyfluff. I was not too happy with Mamo Cefai’s characterisation of the Princess as a nasal American airhead, especially since the twang, combined with the excessively loud sound balance, made it hard to follow her speech pattern.

The same problem happened with Randon’s microphone, which detracted from the clarity of her performance.

The song which people probably enjoyed the most was a hilarious reworking of the original Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious… to cheeky Maltese lyrics. While I was not convinced by the initial take on the Spoonful of Sugar song, sung by Governor and Mrs Banks, Alison White’s choreography with Brauneis and Nicodeme dancing on skates, accompanied by the ensemble as their servants, made for very good visuals in staging.

This is more than can be said for Claudio Apap’s general set design which relied rather heavily on projections. The scene using UV lighting and puppets designed by Sean Briffa, in which Jane and Mikey jump into a volcano to retrieve Merry Poppins’s magical umbrella from the shadow monster, was fascinating to watch in all its mesmerising fluorescence: it would be a pity if this effect were to be overdone if used from one year to the next.

John Montanaro and Brown were great antagonists and their dysfunctional relationship with their son Derek, portrayed sensitively by Alex Gatsey Lewis, highlighted how personal selfishness can get in the way of family values.

The younger cast members proved to be enthusiastic and highly energetic, with Saydon and Gatsey Lewis in particular good form, making strong partners for the love interests in Mamo Cefai and Randon respectively.

Merry Poppins made the most of the aces up its sleeve and delivered an even, fast-paced plot with struck a chord with young and old alike, making for a highly entertaining panto.