REVIEW: Goldilocks and the Three Bears at South Shields Customs House

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

South Shields Customs House

Until Saturday 3 January 2026

The circus themed pantomime with a big heart has landed in South Shields with its usual dollop of thoughtful storytelling, songs and jokes in a show that is written just for this show. The talented cast deliver a traditional panto that is up to date with its humour.

Always central to the show is co-writer Ray Spencer as Dame Bella Ballcock, who is, this year running a circus that has hit hard times. The character naturally leads themselves as the ring master. They are supported once again by Dennis (Glen Richard Townsend) who dutifully grows in his role as a comic. The Dame also has Goldilocks (Zoe Allan) and Colin (Jonathan Iceton) as acts but is in desperate need for another act.

Meanwhile Three Bears have escaped a rival zoo. Daddy Bear (Jonathan Deakin), Mammy Bear (Jess Brady) and Baby Bear (Nancy Dowling) hide in a forest and raise their child until Goldilocks appears to sample their porridge. The zoo that they escaped is run by Oli Garch, who is aiming to swallow up any rival circus and he has his eyes on Dame Bella's affair. Steven Lee Hamilton is absolutely fabulous in his role as the evil megalomaniac, partly done to his brilliant singing. You find yourself applauding rather than booing the character. Hamilton continues to grow in stature and is a highlight of the show. Having said that, we should also mention Nancy Dowling - whose Baby Bear character had a substantial role and lots of lines, for such a young character, which were executed with charm. They are going to be one to watch in the future.

The young dancers threw themselves into the dance routines and added needed energy into the many dance routines. The downside to the songs was a sound that made it pretty difficult to work out the lyrics for certain performers as the bass levels usually drowned out the vocal performance on stage.

The show's second act had more energy than the first in the Sunday tea-time performance that we attended. Ray Spencer noted a credit to "Aunty - Biotics" at the end which suggests that the cast are going through the health wars. Perhaps the cast could feel the finishing line before a couple of well earnt days off as the show reached its conclusion.  

Regular readers will know that we prefer a panto that stick to story telling rather than an unconnected variety show. The Customs House panto delivers in that respect and includes the traditional elements such as the take off scene, messy scene and community singing. It remains a show that makes the audience feel a part of the experience rather than a show that is "done to them". Perhaps a couple of songs could be cut from act one in order to boost the pace and shorten the first act for the wriggling youngsters.

If memory serves us right, we first saw director Natasha Haws on a panto stage as Little Red Riding Hood (was that 2014?) and it is great to see her gain another director's credit in a local show where it all began.

Goldilocks is a panto, with a local feel, that doesn't forget to tell a story.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Photos: Behind the Eyez Media 

Tickets:

https://www.customshouse.co.uk/theatre/goldilocks-and-the-three-bears/

Access Information:

Audio Described – Sat 6 Dec @ 2:30pm
Relaxed Performance – Sun 28 Dec @ 10:30am
Signed Performance – Mon 29 Dec @ 6:30pm