Saturday, 15 December 2012

Snow White and the Seven Poofs: The Climax! - review

Written by: Tom Woods (@Thomas_E_Woods)

Where did Woods watch it?
Green Carnation Cabaret Venue, London
Was Woods won over?
****


Santa certainly won’t be bringing any presents to the cast and crew of Snow White and the Seven Poofs: The Climax! this year, which is a small sacrifice for a hilarious pantomime that is so naughty it would make a porn star blush. 


The script follows the story of Snow White with a few adult twists (the most notable being the dwarfs as caricatures of ‘gay society’) and whilst one could say that Simon Gross has a great skill in still maintaining pantomime tradition and rules (He does), or argue that this is a hilarious parody and at the same time celebration of gay culture (It is); the show doesn’t try to do either of these things. It’s primarily two of the campest hours of your life filled with obscene and offensive humour and ad-libbing with a few stunning drag acts thrown in for good measure. And it is brilliant.

The entire cast are full of energy, charismatic and very sharp, making jibes and jests to the audience at every opportunity, and facing down hecklers without missing a beat. Whilst it definitely feels like the front few rows are where all the action is happening, no one, not even those at the back are spared. Special mentions must go to both Tanya Hyde and Ebb-On-Knee (standing in for Mrs Moore) who are both fantastic drag acts but really pull out all the stops playing Snow White and The Evil Queen respectively.

This is a show that really knows its audience, with a very cabaret-esque vibe, roaring gay anthems, and more sex jokes than you can shake a… err stick at. But from the reactions of those sat across from me there is still definitely a market for a straight audience as well. Doubtless there will be nay-sayers who decry it all as cheap toilet humour but it never aims, nor pretends to be high brow, and being panto it doesn’t need to be either, at it’s most basic level it’s all good sordid fun.

It is something of a shame that the eponymous ‘poofs’ don’t get an awful lot of stage time, played by the ensemble they stole the show with a fantastic rendition of Y.M.C.A (what else?) and the incredible showstopper ‘If I Didn’t Work for the Evil Queen’ that was stuffed to bursting with innuendo. It would have been nice to see more of them in lieu of some of the exposition points in the first act, which seem to drag but this is just a small gripe. Ultimately, assuming you aren’t afraid that of this show’s very offensive and adult content, Snow White and the Seven Poofs: The Climax is a show that will bring you to your knees with laughter and leave you gagging for more.

This production runs until 6 January 2013
@gclondon_com @snowwhite7poofs

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