Review - Wizard of Oz - People's Theatre

The Wizard of Oz

People's Theatre

13th December 2025

This year's Panto at The People's Theatre is The Wizard of Oz. It's a move away from the more traditional fairy tale pantomime, that is to say it is not the usual handsome prince falls in love and saves his heart's desire from an evil witch/queen/wizard and they get married and live happily ever after...

There are witches and wizards, some good, some not so good, and one is a sort of fairy godmother, or witchy godmother if we're being fair. And there is plenty of danger and enchantment. 

The panto follows the original story of Dorothy's adventures in the land of Oz pretty accurately, with the addition of Hickory, Dickory and Dock as the farm hand characters who transform into the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion and who provide the panto characters who engage with the audience most - the "Buttons" type character. The main one being the Scarecrow who initiates the call and response with the audience each time he comes on stage. Jess Chapman plays this really well, creating a good rapport with the audience and delivering some great jokes and puns along the way, supported by Alison Carr as the Tin Man, whose comic delivery shines throughout the show, and Joe Moore is engaging as the loveable scaredycat Lion. 

Ian Willis as Aunty Em/Glinda the Good provides both the "fairy godmother" and the "panto dame" 
roles. His sparkly pink Glinda frock is a sight to behold. She pops up when needed to sprinkle a little good magic to help the story on its way.  The evil element is provided by Hattie Eason as Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West, with her minion Winkie, the flying monkey (Rachel Potts). Her shrill laughter is enough to scar the bravest of children in the audience! 

Uncle Henry/the Mighty Oz is played by Steve Parry - the gentle Uncle a contrast to the bumptious Wizard, though his kinder side does show once Toto reveals his true identity! Erin Hattrick is a competent Dorothy,  and last but not least, Toto the dog is an endearing puppet operated by Rosa Cole - which is definitely more reliable than having a real dog and handler on stage! 

There is plenty of music with the show starting with a boot stomping line dance number to Steps 5-6-7-8. And the refrain throughout the show of Is This the Way to the Emerald City (amarillo).  (Though considering Glinda's Scottish accent I was a little disappointed not to have a Proclaimers' number in there - walking 500 miles surely was a dead cert?)  

The costumes are fabulous - from the gingham and denim farm wear to the rainbow sparkles and poppy petals of the dancers,. The sets are well presented from The mundane farm in Kansa....erm...Heaton, to the enchanted land of Oz. I loved the twister scene with the cacophony of music and weather as stage hands spun the scenery around creating the tornado that transports Dorothy to Oz and lands her house on the Wicked witch of the East, and the beautiful poppy field scene with dancers providing the soporific poppies to enchant Dorothy and her friends, and then snow floating from the skies to save them. 

Finally the Wizard's Head is an impressive piece of giant puppetry  and a credit to the set designers. 

This is quite different for a pantomime. there is a definite story to be told though it does still have the good versus evil, and audience participation but it feels less structured than the traditional format, and at times it felt that the "panto" elements were being shoehorned in. There are still lots of jokes and innuendo but it's all a bit more subtle and sometimes the jokes were missed by the audience which is a shame because this is more sophisticated humour than you'd normally see in panto. 

That said, the audience on opening night was fully engaged - with plenty of booing for the wicked witch and clearly the supporters clubs for the dance troups were all present in the audience, which definitely added to the atmosphere! 

If you want something a little bit different to the usual panto fayre then the People's Panto might be just the show you need to see! 

It runs until 21st December - and you will need to book in advance to be sure of a seat! 

Book online here.   

*images by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk