The energy regularly threatens to bubble over into chaos, and the vulgarity leaves the distinct odour of fart jokes hovering over the stalls of this grand old theatre. But in the context of seasonal family entertainment and the potentially jaded genre of panto, these are definite plus marks for Puss in Boots: The Cat's Tale.
This is the third time round for the Twink-Dustin combination, which has turned into the marriage of Den 2 and MTV at the altar of pantomime. And more than ever, Adele King - that's what she calls herself as creator and writer of this show, though it's "Twink" in the cast list - has turned the show into a pop-flavoured dance revue: stock characters and situations are still just about there, but we hardly have time to boo the villain, and the Macnas giant is seriously under-employed.
The fact that choreographer Belinda Murphy also plays the romantic lead speaks volumes: Murphy and the rest of the more-than-ample troupe put in a powerful three-hour shift, and if the work is derivative - including an extended Cats section, complete with pre-pubescent dancers in "sexy" feline attire - that's never an insult in the world of panto. Even with the musical accompaniment of many of 1999's dire pop songs (all pre-recorded, not a musician to be seen), they produce some really exciting entertainment which should sharpen with time.
And there's not much wrong with the stuff between numbers either. Puss in Boots is at once funny (take a bow, turkey), ingratiatingly attuned to youth-culture concerns (the main characters are called Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey, Monica and Phoebe) and brave enough to risk excess (too noisy, too many characters on stage, too many scene changes, too much "plot" contrivance). Through the debris strides Twink, keeping us in touch at all times with easy topical humour, complete accessibility and very, very little spotlight-hogging, I swear. (Yes, I've become a more-than-sneaking regarder.)
Best of the rest is probably Louise Bowden as Phoebe the cat, but this is an ensemble job with many key roles: Fiona Leech's sets are a particular rebuke to the rent-a-set at the Gaiety. The final word to seven-year-old co-reviewer Louie, who has taken a liking to the one-to-five star rating system: after some reflection this Stephen's Night, she settled conservatively on 3,000 stars for Puss in Boots.
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