Far Far Away Theatre’s All Rise For Halloween – 30 October 2026, Montgomery Theatre
Review by Claire Taranaski.
There cannot be too many takes on Halloween and the classic horror characters that haven’t been done so it’s a delight that Far Far Away Theatre have come up with an original spooky, kooky idea whilst maintaining their reputation for family friendly shows that are wonderfully entertaining and lovingly created with their latest show All Rise For Halloween.
Based around the idea of taking the classic horror monsters to a graveyard court for their sins against humans, whilst they argue that they are just doing what their monsters need to do in front of a jury of zombies, everything about the show was a delight. In fact my only minor issue was that the court porter Frankenstein (performed by Steve Wainwright) should in fact be Frankenstein’s Monster (as Frankenstein was their creator). Both Steve and Peter Holliday as the Defence Igor found a great balance between the original 1920s movie version of their characters and the comedy of 1970s Young Frankenstein whilst making them their child friendly own.
However it was Matthew Dobbs who was the true star of the show playing multiple characters, with some very quick changes, and showing off his talent for distinct accents and vocals and really making us feel for each and everyone of them from the Scouse Graham The Ghost (with a musical number that made me think of James Brown’s gospel song in The Blues Brothers) and Geordie Martin The Mummy who just wants a friend, both of whom pulled tightly on the heart strings of the audience, whilst capturing the dog like essence of Wayne The Werewolf (one of my seven year old daughter’s favourite moments was when Michael Crump as Mrs Werewolf encouraged the audience to be against him and their relationship had flashes of couples in 1990s sketch comedies). One of my daughter’s other favourite moments was when Martin The Mummy tried to wee on the judge’s bench. Matthew was also the show’s musical director and composed the musical numbers but didn’t just save the best numbers for himself, with the full cast numbers featuring fun crisp choreography, lyrics and vocal arrangements that had a tone reminiscence of numbers from the likes of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Michael Crump and Joanna Mason joined Matthew in the multiple character playing, portraying a variety of distinct roles and impressively never slipping up between them, their was even a joke slipped into the script about this. Michael was also superb as the charismatic Elvis style Dracula (makes complete sense when you think about it) and also played my daughter’s favourite character Malcolm the museum janitor because in her words he talked so much, whilst as twice this term my daughter has brought home reading books from school featuring Winnie The Witch and it was lovely for Joanna to bring real fun, personality and warmth to the character.
Jenna Dabbs continues to lead Far Far Away Theatre in it’s ninth year writing, directing and doing the wardrobe and set so it is only right that she leads on stage as Judge Jackie Lantern. I imagine both her and on and off stage personas to be similar trying to have authority but also a fondness for everyone involved. Like all the lead actors her confidence, warmth, comic timing and stage presence shone throughout.
Using the one set of the courtroom throughout was a clever idea and meant that the company has put the effort and time into a set that genuinely feels like you have been transported into an eerie graveyard straight out of a Disney kids Halloween film with lights from TDX Lighting and sound from PM Productions only adding to the spooky atmosphere. The mindreading machine was such a fun clever prop that my daughter questioned whether the audience members it was tested on had been planted. Jenna’s wardrobe choices were perfect for the Halloween family friendliness, capturing the essence of each character, whilst also being willing to make fun of the classic sheet ghost choices. Along with Matthew Dobbs as the Grave Digger (who felt sadly underused) she left one of my favourite costumes for herself, both highly inspired by Steampunk. Whilst the make up for the full cast and ensemble had an other world eeriness about it whilst capturing the traditional attributes and personalities of the characters, including each of the jury members having their own distinct styles.
Halloween is a time for family participation and this production welcomed the same, with all children getting a bag of evidence on arrival (which delighted so much that you could spot audience members on the bus home afterwards) and moments of audience involvement throughout. My only wish that people would have got on their feet for the Halloween megamix at the end, though I was definitely not the only parent singing along.
All Rise For Halloween is the perfect addition to any family’s Halloween plans and will be loved by fans of Far Far Away Theatre or those looking to introduce their children to theatre for the first time. And if you can’t get to it don’t worry as they are bringing my daughter’s favourite Roald Dahl book Danny The Champion Of The World to Rotherham in the Easter holidays, continuing their tradition of bringing his novels to the stage.
