Those familiar with the story from the Arabian Nights might be a little puzzled, but the rest of us will have a rare night out as this year's London Bubble panto sees a change in venue but no slip in quality. It is 2012 and a severe water shortage has seen Blackheath transformed into shifting desert sands. In their little waterless cafe, Vera (Simon Thomson, a real dame and a half) and her Irish daughter Margo are not just skint but stink.
Then along comes Ali, the black sheep of the Baba family, and his trusty camel Augustus (an upmarket name for an upmarket beast, and smart with it). Can Ali and Margo defeat the wicked Major H Bann (the H stands for Hosepipe) who, as a result of childhood trauma, has shut up all the world's clouds in his desert cave? Will the love of a true woman (or at least a man in a dress) cure him? Can the Meercats of Mystery (they bring that special musical touch to your wedding, birthday or anniversary) help out in a moment of crisis? Will the sand dance turn to Riverdance so that the rain can fall?
At the beginning of the evening, we are promised something "funny and dramatic, spectacular and ridiculous" and the London Bubble certainly couldn't be prosecuted under the Trade Descriptions Act. This is a terrific small-scale panto that relies on winning performances and a really cracking script. The evening is full of visual jokes and verbal puns and, while there is much to thrill the kids, there are also plenty of theatrical in-jokes for panto-weary adults. "Do feel free to shout out - it's panto, not Chekhov," says Vera at one point.
The evening gets off to a slightly slow start, dips again for 10 minutes after the interval and needs 15 minutes shaved off it for full family friendliness. But this is a great little night out, full of old routines that come up fresh as paint and produced and played completely without the mercenary guile and false smiles that afflict so much commercial panto with its D-list stars.
Funny and fun.
· Until Jan 11. Box office: 020 8858 7755.
