Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire:

Part of the theatre:

From a poster outside:

A very good traditional pantomime.

Those who requested a review may be pleased with the Youtube clip.

Set in Dalstonia in Hackneytopia. But I think the one I saw in 1980 was full of local policitical references. This wasn’t.

Typical dialogue (not 100% guaranteed):

Baron Bonkers, in a dark wood: We’ve got to get away from the ghosties and ghoulies.
Frightening Freda: I don’t want to be caught by the ghosties.
Baron Bonkers: And I don’t want to be caught by surprise.

Superb singing and dancing.
The first act was a trifle too long. The second act wasn’t.
We didn’t have to stand up and flap our wings much.

Do all pantomimes use a wild variety of costumes, possibly from other productions?
We particularly liked the little boy with bear ears. Did he go home early, or did he reappear as one of the rubber-masked wizened old dancing men? or the dancing geese?
Was the troll-like giant created for this panto, or did they take the body of previous giants and add a new head?

And here’s another review and video clip by Eros Vlahos (13) in the Guardian.