Sleeping Beauty — Contact Pantomime

The Big Tiny’s Sleeping Beauty is Contact’s pantomime on Oxford Road. Magic, mischief, and a fairytale told at a slant: the shape of a panto, with the responses and the mess, and a company more interested in invention than in hitting every traditional beat at full volume. Contact’s building, all glass and colour by the university, suits a show that wants a younger, closer audience.

It runs from 10 December through to New Year’s Eve, with a mix of matinees and evenings. Check tickets for the performance that fits bedtime. The Opera House has the huge panto. This is the one for families who want the story told sideways and the jokes aimed at the people in the room rather than at a television audience. Oxford Road is a simple bus or a walk from St Peter’s Square. Arrive with time to find the theatre inside the building. The foyer is half the fun with children, and the show itself keeps the asides coming once the lights go down. A fairytale, a curse, a spindle, and a cast that knows the kids will shout.