John Bishop, Mel Giedroyc and Ian McKellen at the launch for Mother Goose. Picture: Craig Sugden
Ian McKellen will take on the title role in a star-studded special touring production of the classic pantomime Mother Goose.
Presented by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, after famously playing another iconic character Widow Twankey in Aladdin at the Old Vic in 2004 and 2005, theatrical knight McKellen will step into the role of Mother Goose, alongside comedian John Bishop as her husband Vic Goose and comedian Mel Giedroyc (Jack and the Beanstalk, Barbican) as The Goose.
They will be joined by Oscar Conlon-Morrey (Only Fools and Horses, Haymarket Theatre Royal) as Jack, Simbi Akande (The Great British Bake Off – The Musical, Cheltenham Everyman) as Jill, Sharon Ballard (Sleeping Beauty, Hackney Empire) as Evil Fairy Malignia and Karen Mavundukure (The Color Purple, Leicester Curve/Bristol Hippodrome/UK tour) as Good Fairy Encanta. The cast will also include Adam Brown (Hot Pursuit, International tour), Gabriel Fleary (Cinderella, Lyric Hammersmith), Richard Leeming (Wendy and Peter Pan, Leeds Playhouse) and Genevieve Nicole (Pippin, Charing Cross Theatre). Further casting will be announced soon.
Written by stage and screenwriter Jonathan Harvey (Closer to Heaven, Dusty) and directed by award-winning director Cal McCrystal (ENO productions of Iolanthe in 2018 and HMS Pinafore in 2021), the production will play the Theatre Royal Brighton from 3-11 December 2022 before playing a West End Christmas season at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 15 December 2022 until 29 January 2023.
Mother Goose will then visit Chichester Festival Theatre (7-11 February 2023), Sheffield Lyceum (14-18 February 2023), Wolverhampton Grand (22-26 February 2023), Liverpool Empire (28 February-4 March 2023), Oxford New Theatre (7-11 March 2023), Bord Gais Energy Theatre Dublin (22-26 March 2023) and Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff (28 March-1 April 2023) with further venues to be announced soon.
Set and costume design for the production is by Liz Ascroft, with choreography by Lizzi Gee, lighting design by Prema Mehta, sound design by Ben Harrison, puppet design and creation by Chris Barlow and casting by Anne Vosser. The production manager is Ben Arkell.
Angela Thomas
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