Words by Billy Edwards
The Act One Society panto has become a mainstay of the run-up to Christmas in Cardiff. Laden with crude jokes and innuendo, itÔÇÖs for adults only, and this year it is entitled ÔÇÿJungle JuiceÔÇÖ, a hint towards itÔÇÖs reworking of the Jungle Book – I was very excited for the pantomime having already enjoyed the Wizard of Oz panto put on by Act One in the same venue the previous year.
This time the script is written by Joe McCartney and Austin Hampshire, the former of which also co-directs the proceedings with Sian Howells. It all took place in Pulse, and with its free-flowing bar, the audience settled in their seats for a night of gaudy entertainment.
We meet Mowgli leaving home for her first year and meeting flatmate Baggy who hatches a plan to go to Juice that evening. Soon they meet Baloo, a bear in drag who also worked at Tesco. We had to say ÔÇ£hello, you sexy bearÔÇØ when beckoned, and Baloo made passes at the audience and vice versa. We were jokily warned on entry that it would be brave to sit in the front rows: as the show progressed, there were plenty of opportunities for audience participation. With VKs purchased, the music and tension loudened, with Mowgli ending up outside the SU. Was he going to get in with any ease?
Here we were introduced to the Bouncers, my favourite characters. At first in the panto, they appear as MowgliÔÇÖs parents; yet when our motley crew try to get into Juice, two bouncers stand in their way. They immediately held a good rapport of the audience by asking to check their ID.
Then we are introduced to more adversaries out to hinder MowgliÔÇÖs first night at Juice. Khan is no longer a snake and is now a ÔÇÿshady dealerÔÇÖ, though there is some inventive dancing by a few members of the support cast during his chilling performance of ÔÇÿTrust In MeÔÇÖ that cheerfully invokes the original character. He wears a black hoodie and sunglasses and speaks in funny colloquialisms. There was evidently a great affection for the original text.
There are also the ÔÇÿrugby ladsÔÇÖ, with an excellent costume mimicking a general rugby social outfit of shirt and tie. They are rather rambunctious and chauvinistic like the real thing. Soon they sing I Wanna Be Like You because they are so impressed by MowgliÔÇÖs skills with chatting up women that they claim to see on the dancefloor ÔÇô even some rather nasty-sounding initiations happen offstage to poor Mowgli.
In the end she settles on joining some societies to make some better friends than the rugby lads, all without leaving a chance for a parting shot at Act One members and their tendencies for intimate relationships with each-other. Then come back The Show Choir and their excellent harmonies, were a welcome new addition to the pantomime, taking the action up a notch and concluding the show with a humorous song about having pride in your manhood.
Overall, I very much enjoyed Act OneÔÇÖs Jungle Juice, although I didnÔÇÖt always know where to look, and the verdict afterwards from the crowd was evidently that of a well-spent night out.
