Beauty and the Beast – New Wolsey Theatre
Reviewed 28th December 2025 – live stream
5/5
A real rocking beast of a panto!
Once again written by Vikki Stone, the annual Rock and Roll panto at the New Wolsey is a powerhouse of multi-talented actor musicians who give their all to bring the story to life.
Right from the get-go Vikki’s script brings the story to life with lots of local references, and bang up to date with Belle starting a podcast about local mysteries including the oldest door in Ipswich which just happens to be the door to the Beast’s castle.
One highlight of the show is the pigeon, played with plenty of energy by Eloise Richardson. This pigeon not only helps pull the story along but provides some much needed slapstick with her dodgy stomach, covering the front row in plenty of spray foam!
Max Gallagher as Mrs Ringer (Belle’s mother) took a while to get the audience on side, but once in full flight there was no holding him back, and the ‘musical chairs’ in the pub was hilarious.
Nis Raza Hamilton as Belle and Neil Urquhart as the Beast worked well together with some nice tender moments when required, but full-on rock numbers were full of power. There was a nice twist in the transformation scene at the end too.
There really wasn’t a weak spot in the whole sow, and the small cast worked extremely hard, both playing all the show music (even if we did lose a saxophone at one point), and playing multiple characters. They really did blow the roof off in the finale!
If you can get yourself over to Ipswich you really should see this rocking panto – if you can get a ticket!
Beauty and the Beast runs until 17 January 2026.