Review: Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal

“…this might be my favourite York Theatre Royal panto yet…”

Sleeping Beauty by Paul Hendy, York Theatre Royal

By Sean Sable

One might call me a panto connoisseur. Every year, I look forward to “panto night” on the calendar because, frankly, the Christmas season does not officially start until I see a man wearing an outrageous dress telling groan-worthy dad jokes. And I have seen enough pantos to know that they live in a magical theatrical space that exists somewhere between comfort and surprise. You arrive thinking you’re about to see the same performance as the year before, just dressed in new costumes, and then discover that the format may be old, but the humour and delight are always new. York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions’ Sleeping Beauty had that feeling from the start, as though it was ready to offer something familiar and just a little bit enchanted.

The story of Sleeping Beauty always circles the same shape: a young princess is cursed at birth, a kingdom is trying (and usually failing) to divert fate, and a long sleep broken by determination and a kiss. This time we’re in Hamelot, where Princess Aurora is fated to prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her eighteenth birthday. Prince Michael of Morovia turns up at precisely the right (or wrong) moment, and what follows is exactly the sort of joyful meddling and mischief pantomime does best.

York Theatre Royal’s stage glittered in a way that scratched an itch left over from childhood pantos. Layers of sparkling castle walls, bedrooms, courtyards, and secret corners appeared and vanished, with scene changes hiding beneath the charm of chase scenes and singalongs. Carabosse’s lair was by far my favourite set of the evening. Its glittering tapestry of cobwebs, stone skull candelabras, and shadowy corners appealed to the little spooky-kid version of me—the one who would have absolutely redecorated her room to match.

The evening’s cast was a mix of familiar and new faces, all of whom had a generous dollop of Fairy Moonbeam’s magic. Jangles the court jester was sunshine incarnate. Tommy Carmichael radiates so much charisma that even the groan-worthy dad jokes (carefully noted by my husband) land like a tight five. Aurora, played by Aoife Kenny, had a wonderful balance of whimsy and presence. When she took her sword to Kevin the Velociraptor (which, of course, we all know from the classic tale), she was absolutely the heroine we needed. Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael was my unexpected favourite this year. I’ll admit that I can be fussy about Prince Charming types, but he struck that balance of earnestness and glow without slipping into empty-headed smugness. I found him genuinely endearing, particularly when he appeared in a pair of school uniform shorts during the “School’s Out” routine that made him look simultaneously five and twenty-five.

Of course, no evening at the panto would be complete without Nurse Nellie. I would say that she also had a bit of help from Fairy Moonbeam’s magic, but really—as if she would need it? Robin Simpson’s Dame work is the true heart at the centre of a good panto. His timing was elastic, his improvisation was lightning quick, and his jokes landed so hard that you could regularly find his fellow cast members stifling their laughs. His costumes shifted between the outrageous and the delightfully silly: the prisoner get-up with the wild orange hair, the palaeontologist moment during the velociraptor scene, and plenty of  glitter-infused creations in between.

The highlight of the evening was the chaos of the “hundred years” sequence. With a brigade of messy, frantic tasks, soap everywhere, and actors sliding across the floor unable to keep straight faces, it was everything we love about slapstick humour. The audience howled, and so did the cast. There’s something so lovely about performers letting themselves laugh at the absurdity of it all. Panto thrives on childishness, and childishness is almost required to delight in its own silliness.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I must give a secret nod to one particularly fiery performer whose onstage antics lit up the stage and left the audience whispering, “Did you see that?” as the performance broke for the interval.

Richard Williamson’s lighting design filled the stage with electric washes and creative atmospheric touches. The circular bramble pattern during the axe sequence was especially well-considered and added depth to a scene many designers would leave flat. The lit border that hung around the set pulsed and shifted with the action, adding another playful layer to each scene or joke. The musical arrangement and live sound were joyous, energetic and current. I was surprised to find something sitting so close to the bleeding edge of children’s cultural zeitgeist as K-Pop Demon Hunters’ “Golden,” which had the whole audience clapping and buzzing.

Wake me if I’m dreaming, but this might be my favourite York Theatre Royal panto yet. It’s the perfect sparkling way to kick off your festive season.

Sleeping Beauty plays at York Theatre Royal until Sunday 04 January 2026. Tickets are available here.

Sean Sable is a Yorkshire-based freelance writer and editor specialising in Young Adult and Horror fiction, frequently at the same time. When she isn’t buried under a pile of books and manuscripts, she is looking for her keys and having extensive one-sided conversations, in Swedish, with her deaf cat. You can find her online at: www.seansable.co.uk