We Sherwood recommend you see Robin Hood

From the moment Dolly Doughnut appeared at the far end of the stage with her back turned to the audience as she swept up, to the all cast finale, Robin Hood, this year’s panto at Mullingar Arts Centre, was non-stop music and laughter.

The opening scene had the now well established dame, Shane Bardon, as Dolly pretending to clean up and chat to an out of sight stage hand or similar, and when she was told the show had started, she turned around and got straight in to working the audience. That involved daft jokes and taking the mick out of whoever in the crowd caught her eye – and a well-aimed water pistol.

The writer Anton Chekhov is often quoted as saying that ‘if in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there’, and sure enough Dolly’s water pistol returned later on, when she brought up three kids and their parents, put the parents in the stocks and ordered the kids to fire at them when they were unable to answer impossibly silly questions.

The high energy continued throughout, led by Shane, and supported by Daniel Egerton as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Sarah Nally as his sister Malicent, (BOOOO!), Amy Mulreid at Robin Hood, Méabh Ryan as Maid Marion, Jeremie Essono Ondo as Long John, Conor Walsh and Sam Gilmartin as the two monks (based on the famous rowing brothers from Cork), Gemma Purcell, as Big Bertha and Josh Griffin as Will Scarlett.

As is the case each year, there were funny moments throughout, high energy singing and dancing, a mix of contemporary hits and seasonal classics, and narrators who kept the plot moving along during scene changes.

The video sequence is a regular part of the show as well, and this year it took the cast to Mount Druid, where they had a quick spin on the Christmas Express and where Robin Hood and his Merry Band hunted down the baddies, and converted them into goodies.

Locals with a public profile always get some stick – the politicians are at the top of that pile every year, and again this year. Nobody escapes, and the Dame will be on the lookout for members of the audience to drag up on stage and be gently humiliated.

The classic tale of robbing the rich and giving to the poor was well told, and resolved nicely by the end of the video. That meant all cast members, from the lead actors to the fantastic dancers, were on stage together to take the final accolades and sing the show out in chorus and, as was the case from the start, with as much audience participation as they could muster.

The Mullingar panto is a great show; huge effort and expense goes into it, and that is clear in the quality of the performances, the costumers and the props and scenes.

If you still haven’t been to it, and you can’t get a seat for Robin Hood this year, book now for Snow White in 2026.