Dick Whittington
★★★☆☆ Traditional
Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre: Wed 3 – Sat 6 Dec 2025
Review by Hugh Simpson
Anyone who relishes old-fashioned pantomime, and in particular the chance to boo and shout ‘oh no it isn’t’ will find much to enjoy in St Serf’s Players’ Dick Whittington, at Inverleith St Serf’s Centre until Saturday.
The story of Dick, the country boy who comes to the city, falls in love, is accused of theft, but eventually defeats a plague of rats with the aid of a clever cat, always seems very London-centric for Scottish audiences.
Amber Skelton (Cat) and Andrew Henderson (Dick) in Dick Whittington. Pic Jack Paterson.
This version, an off-the-shelf one by James Barry, has had its setting changed to Leith, but the adaptation is not always consistent or coherent, and it all still seems to be very London-based. Why, for example, would the ‘spirit of Leith’ still be called Fairy Bowbells?
The script is the usual mix of a somewhat sketchy plot, familiar routines, song and dance, audience participation and double entendres. These last can be a little near-the-knuckle at times, with much stress being laid on Dick’s name. Which in itself can be odd in a Leith-set panto, as probably the greatest living person to have grown up in Leith (a certain Mr Gaughan) is called precisely that.
a talented clown
Andrew Henderson is, however, great fun as Dick. He builds an instant rapport with the audience and is a talented clown. His contribution to the slapstick routine on If I Were Not Aboard This Ship is particularly pleasing, as he is kicked, poked and generally bashed about.
A scene from St Serf’s Players’ Dick Whittington. Pic Jack Paterson.
The excellent Amber Skelton provides both huge energy and considerable poise as The Cat, and the central double act certainly gives the production a great deal of momentum.
Fairy Bowbells, played in a warm and conversational style by Alison Carcas, and Rona Arnott’s gruesome Queen Rat, suitably horrible and well backed up by a group of mostly young Ratlings (Moura Macdonald, Olive Derrick, Jess Tiernan, Eve Tyers and Lucy Young) also get a good deal of time on stage.
consistently funny
This means that some of the other characters are sidelined in comparison. Lee Shedden’s Dame Dolly Dumpling is given surprisingly little to do, but is consistently funny. Glen Sutherland plays three different characters with gusto.
Camden Moroney-Smith’s Alice suffers from the perennial problem of panto love interests in having virtually no agency, but is played with commitment.
A scene from St Serf’s Players’ Dick Whittington. Pic Jack Paterson.
The ensemble (including youngsters Alba Connery, Greta Gordon-Rodgers, Emily Kinnell, Meghan McRobbie, Cara Robinson and Eilidh Stewart) are impressive. They could probably have been used more, as some of the musical numbers with the featured performers are not quite as confident or as together as they might be.
Director Rik Kay has, however, otherwise fashioned a production with pace and variety, and the comedy elements are polished. It does, in the tradition of off-the-shelf pantomimes, take an age to get going, but thereafter it rarely drags.
handled with aplomb
Technically, this is very sound; Keith Grady’s lighting and the sound of Gautam Das and Gordon Hughes are striking. In particular, there is a moment in the script where the joke calls for sudden, obvious lighting changes; something which could lead to disaster, but is handled with aplomb.
There is real warmth here, and this is a production that will please all ages.
Running time: Two hours 15 minutes including one interval
Inverleith St Serf’s Church Centre, 1A Clark Road, EH5 3BD
Wednesday 3 – Saturday 6 December 2025
Wed – Fri at 7.30 pm; Sat 2.00 pm and 6.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
A scene from St Serf’s Players’ Dick Whittington. Pic Jack Paterson.
ENDS
