Robin Hood – Milton Keynes Theatre

You simply can’t have Christmas time without panto! Us Brits do love the panto and the sillier the better. But we also love a good show with fantastic costumes, acting, music and dancing. Qdos Entertainment’s Robin Hood ticked all the boxes and more: A well-known Bafta-winning TV star? Check. Leads and an ensemble of comedy, TV and voice-over actors? Check. A seasoned West End star? Check. A mighty magician? Check. A group of international comedy acrobats known as The Acromaniacs? Check! A team of young talented dancers from Dancebox Studios? Check!

We all know the story of Robin Hood, with his team of merry men, robbing from the rich to give to the poor, the evil Sheriff of Nottingham getting in their way and of course the lovely Maid Marion whom Robin is keen to woo. Throw in some clowning around, impressive magic tricks, a spirit of Sherwood, a rather scary 3D trip through the haunted forest, crazy acrobatics, dazzling costumes and stage sets then you’ve got yourself a winning pantomime.

The show is fantastic fun for all the family with endless cheers, boos and screams from the children in the audience and plenty of cheeky laughs from the adults as the grown-up jokes and innuendos were well placed and consistent throughout the show. Of course, you must expect plenty of news, politics and current affairs creeping their way into the show too so prepare for insults, poking fun and outrageous laughter – we love it! Music and songs included some from The Greatest Showman and the classic annual Milton Keynes Panto rendition of Twelve Days of Christmas – watch out for those five toilet rolls kids!!

Starring cheeky and charismatic Shane Ritchie as Robin Hood, Peter Piper as Friar Tuck, Gina Murray as the Spirit of Sherwood, Pete Gallagher as the charming and dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, Jamie Kenna as Little John, Phil Hitchcock as Merlin the Magician and the almighty comedy jumping Acromaniacs as the Merry Men.

For tickets, head to www.atgtickets.com, the panto is running until 13^th January. Be quick, performances are selling out fast!

Another first for MK...

Milton Keynes is becoming known as a place of biggest, bests and firsts, being home to one of the largest indoor snow slopes (Xscape) as well as one of the largest shopping centres (15th largest in the UK), and driverless cars, which are set to be trialled here later in the year.

This year there's another 'first' coming to the city, with the UK's first ever 4DX cinema. Home to 3D, D-Box and now a shiny new 'Super Screen', Milton Keynes' Cineworld has been undergoing renovations for some time now, and 4DX is rumoured to be the next big thing.

If you've been to certain theme parks across the world, you'll have probably come across 4D cinemas; the same as 3D but with added effects such as water and moving chairs. The 4DX sounds like it's going to be going that one step further, showing films in both 2D and 3D with the added effects of high-tech motion seats, fog, wind, lightning, strobes, bubbles, water and rain. As if this wasn't all enough, there's apparently also going to be 'scents', which, depending on the film, could be good or bad. Most children have sat in front of the TV screen thinking how amazing it would be if we could have 'smell-a-vision' and now it appears to arrived, on our very doorstep.

If it all goes as well as it sounds, it's sure to be one of the biggest and best experiences of cinema to date, making you really feel as though you are well and truly in the movie. How much this is going to cost hasn't yet been revealed, but it's sure to be a novel experience which, being the first in the UK, will definitely bring people from near and far to the city.

The experience will be launching later this month, on the 30th January, with the first film to be shown in the screen being 'Kinsman: The Secret Service'. 4DX in considered the biggest step in cinema technology to date, and as the first place to have it in the UK, Milton Keynes is an exciting place to be right now. If you love cinema and want to be right in the action, then this is a must try. Whether the multitude of effects will be all too much or will really make you feel like you're there, we'll have to wait and see, but it's definitely going to be a big thing for milton Keynes, we can't wait to try it for ourselves!