If there’s one thing you can rely on to yank you straight into the festive spirit, even if you’re still picking Halloween toffee out of your teeth – it’s the Grand Opera House panto. And this year, The Adventures of Pinocchio delivers a whopper of a show that feels like a hug, a sugar rush and a belly laugh all rolled into one sparkly, big-hearted night out. Pastiebap.com has been around a few pantos in our day, but this one? This one’s got that proper “this is why we come back every year” energy.
From the moment the curtain rises, it’s clear the GOH team hasn’t come to play. They’ve come to perform. The staging is pure magic – all shimmer, colour and that classic panto mix of “how’d they do that?” trickery that keeps weans open-mouthed and grown-ups quietly impressed. Every costume looks like Disney’s head seamstress stitched it after six espressos. And the music? You’ll be humming half the tunes on the way home and the other half the next morning in the shower.
But let’s be honest: a GOH panto isn’t a GOH panto without Belfast’s queen of Christmas herself, May McFettridge. Back for her 35th season – thirty-five! -May strides onstage as Mrs Geppetto, like a woman who not only owns the place, but maybe built it too. It’s classic May: sharp as a tack, pure mischief, and firing out one-liners that have the entire theatre wheezing. There’s a reason she’s done over 3,000 performances; she’s simply the beating heart of Christmas in Belfast.
Paddy Jenkins brings all the warmth and charm you’d expect as Jiminy Cricket, guiding the story along with that lovely mix of heart and humour he does so well. And Adam C Booth as Pinocchio is a wee revelation: full of energy, big expressions, and just the right balance of cheeky and sweet. You can’t help rooting for the lad as he tries to become a real boy.
The villain department is handled with style, and a sibling twist by Jolene O’Hara as the deliciously wicked Stromboli, joined by her sister Philippa O’Hara making her GOH debut as The Fox. The pair are pure dynamite together, bouncing off each other with the kind of timing only sisters can pull off. Expect boos, hisses and a few “I shouldn’t be laughing at this, but I am” moments.
Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli floats through the show with full fairy magic as The Blue Fairy, and Maeve Byrne’s Cat is all sass, sparkle and scene-stealing charm. Together, the ensemble gives the production a proper West End shine.
The GOH has been doing pantomime since 1895, and you can tell — they’ve perfected the art of making family memories. The Adventures of Pinocchio is everything a panto should be: funny, heart-warming, gorgeously staged and bursting with festive joy.
For more information and tickets, see here.
