Mama Goose – Stratford East, London

Mother Goose may be one of the older pantomime stories out there, but over the decades, it’s fallen by the wayside. Commercial pantos have instead chosen to focus on stories that are more instantly familiar because Disney turned them into animated features.

But that relative unfamiliarity brings with it a greater sense of freedom. Writers and directors Vikki Stone and Tonderai Munyevu craft in Mama Goose a panto that contains most of the genre’s staple scenarios but with a fresh, often location-specific twist.

Duane Gooden’s Mama Goose is a larger-than-life Stratford woman whose goose-rearing abilities cause Ellie Seaton’s Wholesome Thoughtful Fairy (WTF) to leave the galaxy’s last remaining golden goose in her care, in the hope it will keep it safe from WTF’s nemesis, BFF (Mya Fox-Scott’s Bougie Fierce Fairy).

The golden eggs that Ché Walker’s Gary lays transform Mama Goose’s fortunes. But instead of being wise with her money, as son Jack (Marcellus Whyte) suggests, and paying off her large tax bill, Mama switches her shopping habits from the Stratford Centre to Westfield, goes on a spending spree, and becomes an Instagram influencer.

Laced through all the silliness are plenty of sharp political points. Mama declares that now she is rich, she won’t need to pay tax; the antipathy residents struggling to pay the bills feel towards Westfield’s shrine to consumerism is a plot point as much as it is a punchline. And in the second act, as Mama, Jack and Jack’s new girlfriend AI Jill – an anime-style bot created by BFF to infiltrate the Goose household, amusingly brought to life by Charlie Cameron – fly off to Gooseland to reduce Gary from BFF’s factory-farming clutches, there is biting commentary about SpaceX and those billionaires who present themselves as philanthropists but who have accrued their wealth by exploiting others.

Elon Musk, in particular, comes in for a deserved kicking. Panto’s traditional “ghosties and ghoulies” skit, in which the lead cast are picked off, has the abductor being a demonic version of Musk, hypnotising characters one by one into believing he’s a good guy.

But as deeply as Stone and Munyevu’s political satire runs, they always take care to keep the level appropriate for a rollicking family panto. Walker’s Gary, a warm East End geezer, has an engaging rapport with the audience. Cameron’s tonal and physical delivery continues to delight throughout, as the robot who, through contact with humanity, achieves Pinocchio-like growth, becoming much more like a real girl.

In the title role, Duane Gooden’s dame is in some ways the weakest link of the show. While often nailing the role of the attention-grabbing matriarch the script desires, at other times there’s a hesitancy and nervousness that, one hopes, will dissipate as this show’s run continues.

Elsewhere, Seaton and Fox-Scott’s relationship as fairy frenemies has more than a whiff of Wicked about it. Cynthia Erivo is name-checked at least once, and BFF’s nail make-up mirrors the Elphaba actress’s own. Fox-Scott, vocally the strongest performer of the night, even delivers a mightily impressive rendition of Erivo’s take on the war cry conclusion to Defying Gravity.

Supporting actors Grace Venus and Jerome Lincoln provide a variety of supporting roles, from a licentious taxman who pushes the boundaries of how risqué a family panto can be to a hilarious spoof of pop star “astronaut” Katy Perry.

It all adds up to a show that genuinely has much to offer all ages. For those aware of Stratford and the financial pressures felt by anyone living in Britain (especially in Newham), the script offers much in the way of recognition. For the younger audiences, the silliness and spectacle work too. Mama Goose lays a golden egg for panto audiences, setting the bar for what a show rooted in its location should be.

Runs until 3 January 2026