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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Meanwhile in Battersia: Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves @theatre503


There is a scene in the early part of Scrooge and The Seven Dwarves at Theatre 503 where Santa appears and asks the children in the audience what they want for Christmas. "A butler" replies one. You know you're in Battersea with responses like that.

But this isn't just a panto that you get your nanny to take the children to while shopping on Kings Road. The Sleeping Trees have again fused fairy tale and Christmas stories to create an anarchic panto tale about Christmas. With lashings of silliness to boot it may not be a traditional panto, but it is still a lot of fun.


The premise is that the wicked witch has stolen Christmas spirit and everything is upside down. Snow White has lost her seven dwarves in Fairyland and meanwhile in Victorian London Tiny Tim has started to develop a nasty cough. Only one man - Scrooge - can save Christmas since he had concealed his Christmas spirit under a lot of bah and humbug.

Along the way there are poison lemons, vain mirrors that run out of batteries and a one man band in the corner (that's Ben Hales). There is also a subplot about the troupe going to Hollywood too which is probably a story too far.

But it is hard not to like (and laugh) at the ingenuity of John Woodburn, James Dunnell-Smith and Joshua George Smith of Sleeping Trees. They create a high energy panto consisting of Scrooge, Snow White, the Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, the seven dwarves and Santa.

Directed by Simon Evans, Scrooge and the Seven Dwarves is at Theatre 503 until 7 January. For little kids and big kids alike.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photo credit: production images by David Monteith-Hodge

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