Last Updated on 5 December 2025 by Colette
This post features gifted experiences
This year’s Regal Entertainments offering at St Helens Theatre Royal is The Amazing Adventures of Dick Whittington and his Magical Cat . . . amazingly a story we haven’t seen in panto over the years and one I’m not even sure my teens even knew that well.
We’ve been watching panto at St Helens Theatre Royal since Christmas 2018 and whilst it is always a bit of a mad dash to get over after school, it is a much loved part of our festive traditions – and this year, I think perhaps for the first time, Dave was able to come with us too. We bumped into my friend Helen before the show and she commented on how lovely it was that we had all three kids with us – and she was absolutely right. Full family outings are not as common as they once were as commitments and priorities change (by which I mean Ben has a part time job and a girlfriend!) but the fact that we had the whole family there to watch a Christmas panto at St Helens Theatre Royal is testament to the performances we’ve come to know and love from the team at Regal Entertainments! In fairness, as soon as I saw Tim Lucas was on the bill, I knew they’d all be up for it – they still quote “Have you seen my bears?” from Goldilocks at the Epstein back in 2022!
A Regal Entertainments Christmas panto at St Helens Theatre Royal can always be relied on for high production values, cracking costumes, spectacular dancers and all the panto traditions you know and love. Of course Dick Whittington was no different. The script leaned heavily into innuendo making the most of plenty of cheeky “D*ck” and “P*ssy” references (which my teens obviously thought were absolutely hilarious but will have gone over the heads of younger members of the audience) as well as pop culture references like “6 7”, “brain rot”, The Minecraft Moive and K Pop which Amy thought were brill and made Chloe cringe (being 14 this is of course to be expected!)
Dick Whittington (brilliantly played by Matthew Wolfenden of Emmerdale fame) sets off on a journey to London in search of fame and fortune but finds that rather than streets paved with gold, London is over run with rats who are damaging the economy and causing problems for everyone (imagine that!). Of course in true panto style, there is a classic boy gets girl, cat gets rat happy ending – just not how you might expect!
It wouldn’t be a Christmas panto at St Helens Theatre Royal without Lewis Divine who has been a regular for Regal Entertainment since 2017 and has us in stitches every year. This year Lewis plays Idle Jack – as ever Jack is keen to get the girl but loses out to our leading man. Lewis is king of high energy, slapstick humour and cheeky comedy and, as always, does an amazing job of getting the audience going. His new “audience cam” was a brilliant addition to the start of this year’s panto. Lewis always picks out a lady at the front of the audience to obsess over and refer back to during the show so it was especially funny to see the poor woman on screen this time.
Tim Lucas as King Rat was always going to be a highlight for us – we’ve seen Tim in panto several times now and find him absolutely hilarious. He makes such a brilliant panto villain but in a way that’s just really funny rather than scary – well except for the poor kid who burst into tears after a King Rat jump scare! Tim’s attention to detail – from his teeth licking and snorting (which made me feel a bit ill but Ben said it was giving Heath Ledger as the Joker) to his comedy moustache and scouse “off script” accent is spot on and you get the feeling he’ll do anything for a laugh whilst being a consummate professional. Tim’s King Rat did remind me of Russel Brand in parts which Dave agreed with too!
Another regular on stage at St Helens is Richard Aucott as your panto Dame, “Dame Felicity Fitzwarren” – Richard has played in over 30 pantos, almost always taking on the role of dame so you know you are in safe hands! Every year we are blown away by the dame’s costumes – highlights this year include a dress featuring a map of the underground with a handbag in the shape of a tube, wearing a ship as a fascinator and her pasty head dress.
Jenna Sian O’Hara plays Tommi The Cat brilliantly – we loved her physicality but did find the role itself a bit odd. We couldn’t quite understand why the cat would have an American accent and just found the whole performance a bit jarring – like it wasn’t maybe panto enough? No shade to Jenna who played “cat” like she as a born feline but it just didn’t quite make sense for us as a family.
Rachael Wood as Fairy Bow Bells and Chantelle Morgan as Alice Fitzwarren are also familiar faces (and with beautiful voices) for St Helens Theatre goers which I love – seeing familiar faces on stage year in, year out just adds to the tradition for me!#
This year’s panto features “brand new 3D technology straight from the West End” – and whilst it was very impressive, it did feel a bit shoe horned into the performance! That said, the kids in the audience were all laughing, shrieking and waving their arms around so I guess that’s what matter most!
As I said to Dave last night, panto is such a bonkers British tradition but one which the team at Regal Entertainment nail every time. Dick Whittington is hilarious – rude, cheeky and brilliant fun. Take your teens, take your little ones. Go and have some fun!
Dick Whittington runs at St Helens Theatre Royal until Sunday 11th January 2026 with tickets priced from £20. For more info visit www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com
You’ll find more festive theatre details here:
What’s on at the theatre in Manchester this Christmas
Our ultimate guide to Christmas
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