7 reasons why you should check out the Rock ‘n' Roll panto at the Everyman

If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a great surprise, because the Rock’n’Roll panto at the Everyman is back.

This festive favourite is real a city staple and this year it’s Red Riding Hood who’s taking us on a rib-tickling journey into pantoland.

And if you want a sure sign that Christmas is finally here, this is it!

There’s nothing quite like the rock ‘n’ roll panto at the Everyman!

There’s a 40-year tradition of panto at the Everyman and there’s no other production that rocks its way onto the stage quite like this one – this is panto with attitude and it’s an Everyman institution. It’s undergone a creative facelift with the arrival of the new Everyman creative director, Suba Das, but all the magical ingredients are still there – music, mischief, madness and merriment … just pure escapism.

There’s a brilliant cast including a beatboxing Red Riding Hood

A 10-strong cast is led by Adam Keast, who’s celebrating 20 years as panto star at the Everyman and is the fab and silly Ruffles, sidekick to the gormless Prince; and Paislie Reid is perfect as Maisy Merry – aka Red Riding Hood – who runs a bakery in Soggy Bottom in the Marsh. Toxteth-born Paislie, who featured in two seasons of the CITV series, The New Worst Witch, and has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, shines especially during the musical numbers – and reveals an exceptional talent for beatboxing!

The show is action-packed with stunts and all!

The stage is never still and comes alive with comic craziness and magical musical sets, and as well as all usual madcap panto adventures there’s even circus skills and daring acrobatic feats to give it the wow factor.

It’s suitable for the whole family

Red Riding Hood is written by Peter Rowe who’s created an incredible 11 record-breaking Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantos, and while there are some near-the-knuckle funnies that’ll have the grown-ups smirking in their seats, there’s plenty of juvenile jokes that the kids’ll love, along with sparkling costumes, plenty of plot twists and surprises, and musical hits.

The music’s just magic

The show features loads of great songs from its super-talented actor musicians and all the music is played live, with instruments you wouldn’t usually see on stage at a panto – saxophone, flute, clarinet, steel pan drum, cow bell (as well as electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and piano). Ben Welch, as Grandma Millicent Merry, brings energy into every scene and his rendition of Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ is a serious show-stopper.

It’s a classic tale told Everyman style!

Yep, you might think you know the story of Red Riding Hood but you’d never expect the Everyman to stick to that. This includes an environmental message, a story of empowerment, and a ‘you’ll-never-get-it’ plot twist involving the wolf.

There are a number of accessible performances

The Everyman panto is for Everyone and that means there’s no-one who’s left out. There are Audio Described, BSL interpreted, Captioned and Relaxedperformances.