Review: SLEEPING BEAUTY at The Hawth, Crawley



Date: 9th December 2023 

Seat: L3 (Stalls)

Tickets: Gifted

Rating: 5 Stars 

You can’t get much more classic than Sleeping Beauty when it comes to the annual panto, and at The Hawth in Crawley this year, it’s this story that takes centre stage – but don’t worry if you think you’ve seen it all before; there are some fantastic surprises in store, including some rather impressive prehistoric pets, fire performers, and plenty of musical theatre references throughout. 

Why musical theatre? Because two of the panto’s stars are West End performers with some notable credits to their names – that’s Carrie Hope Fletcher (who plays Carrie-Bosse) from such shows as Les Miserables and Heathers, and Scott Paige (The Good Spirit Moonbeam), who’s starred in The Great British Bake Off Musical and The Addams Family. Add to that some wholesomeness from Andy Day, a CBeebies presenter every child (and parent) in the audience is sure to know, and you’ve got the ingredients for a fantastic show. 

Fletcher makes for a fabulously nasty villain, and it’s clear she’s having a lot of fun on stage playing a baddie for once. Her jokes are often self-deprecating (at one point she runs across the stage and moans, “Three years in Les Mis for this?”, plus there are numerous references to her time working in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella – every time she enters the stage, the theme from Phantom of the Opera plays, and her velociraptors (yes, there are velociraptors in Sleeping Beauty now) are named after the composer). My favourite little in-joke was her line, “Did somebody say my name?” If you know, you know. On top of this, she sings a decent amount and really gets to show off what she can do and why she’s so admired. 



Scott Paige is the narrator of the piece, the traditional fairy godmother, and he brings it all together brilliantly. He’s the one who starts the audience participation and warms everyone up, and soon enough, everyone wants to join in. Paige is funny and friendly and helps to put the audience at ease. The chemistry between Paige and Fletcher is wonderful too – they’re best friends in real life, and the duet they sing in Sleeping Beauty is a real treat (and funny too). 

Andy Day is Jangles, Aurora’s (Chrystine Symone) best friend and sidekick. He’s (part of) the comic relief, and very funny he is too. There’s something very comforting about seeing someone so familiar on stage, and along with Nurse Nellie (Michael J Batchelor), they have some fantastic set pieces, like the Wheelbarrow of Puns (all musical theatre-related, of course) and a supremely silly song where everyone (including Luke Walsh as Prince Michael) slips about ridiculously on a soap-sudded floor. 

This is Batchelor’s tenth year as The Hawth’s panto dame, Nurse Nellie (this year), and he’s clearly a well-loved icon. He’s outrageous and hilarious, with just enough slightly adult humour mixed in with the puns and dad jokes to keep everyone entertained. 

With a sumptuous set and soaring songs, Sleeping Beauty is certainly not a snooze-fest; it’s a funny, fabulous, feel-good festive caper with something for everyone – not all pantos can say that! 

Get your tickets here: https://www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/the-hawth/whats-on/sleeping-beauty

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