REVIEW: The Lady or the Tiger at Theatre at the Tabard 5 - 23 March 2024

‘polished performances … the audience had a fantastic time’ ★★★★

The Lady or The Tiger is adapted from a short story by Frank Stockton where the dictatorial King hides his daughter away from the world.  At 25 she is almost desperate to have a lover like the other young people of the kingdom.  Luckily for her a wandering minstrel just happens to be passing by, but the King finds out and in this adult fairytale they do not all live happily ever after.

Bob Karper as The Factotum did a brilliant job of keeping the show on track right from the start where I felt the audience immediately tuned into his wavelength.  They too played their part, laughing at the slightest hint of a joke or innuendo every time right on cue.  Bob Karper had the well-trained viewers eating out of his hand.  A role many of them I’m sure had been playing from their first introduction to pantomime and for the last 50 or 60 years.  This was an adult pantomime as well as being many other things and he made sure the audience had a fantastic time.  Then to cap it all in the song ‘Here’s Gold’ He showed his versatility by showing off a whole raft of impersonations from a drag queen to Donald Trump.

Wayne Smith dominated the stage every time he stepped forward and gave a flawless performance of self-assured smugness as the King.  He was hilarious at times and showed off a high degree of comic timing in some of the songs.  Georgie Rodgers as the Princess lived through the first half of the play as ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’, petulant and spoilt.  Then transformed into a sex bomb in her quest to grab a man.  Her voice was equal to the task and her attitude in several of the songs, notably ‘What would you do:’ was deadly.

Juan Lobo as the Hero was too quiet most of the time and I could hardly hear him from my seat in the second row and I always felt he was being drowned out by the others when they sang together.  You can imagine my surprise when I found out that he had a magnificent voice and at the times when I could hear him it was very obvious that he was equally as good as anyone else on the stage.

Philip Shute, the musical director, played piano impeccably.  He also sang the background witticisms that added a cheeky accompaniment to some of the numbers.  Angus Tikka gave an accomplished performance on double bass and vocals.  Indeed, the whole score presented a wide spectrum of musical styles from Gershwin to just plain good old rock and roll.

This was an extremely well-polished performance of the highest quality.

Photography: Charles Flint

The Lady or the Tiger at Theatre at the Tabard 5 - 23 March 2024

Box Office https://tabard.org.uk/whats-on/the-lady-or-the-tiger/

Directed by Keith Strachan

Written by Jeremy Paul and Michael Richmond with music by Noloa York

Reviewed by Robert McLanachan