A curiousity of the 2025 panto season is that the legendary Susie McKenna – who wrote, directed and sometimes starred in the Hackney Empire panto during its golden age – was down to write not one but two London pantomimes. She would write and direct the inaugural Soho Theatre Walthamstow panto, a production of Aladdin. And she would return to Catford Broadway for the third year running in a writer only capacity, for a spin on Dick Whittington that relocates the action to the Empire Windrush, in a tribute to the parents of her wife, the actor Sharon D Clarke. However the Walthamstow show fell through, apparently because the new theatre simply wasn’t read for a large scale theatre production.
Presumably she still won’t direct Dick Whittington and His Catford Cat, having ceded the job to panto veteran Peter Rowe, who is known for his rock infused take on the genre, althoiugh werre the opportunity to present you wouldn’t bet against McKenna helming this one. However, the combination of her script and his love of rock could throw up some pretty interesting shapes.
