By Grace Hatchell
I have seen Dick Whittington before. Quite a few times, actually.
But Dick Whittingberg?
Now you’ve got my attention.
JW3 and Plotnek Productions are returning with their annual pantomime this Christmas, and this time they’ve taken one of London’s best-known panto stories and given it a distinctly Jewish makeover.
Dick Whittingberg Gets Into a Pickle runs at JW3 in north London from 6 December 2026 until 3 January 2027, following previous productions including Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Pig, Goldie Frocks and the Bear Mitzvah and Cinderella and the Matzo Ball.
This year’s story finds young Dick travelling by boat to 18th-century London hoping to make a name for himself. Instead, he encounters a talking cat, a thoroughly unpleasant rat and a diamond heist in Ratton Garden.
Yes, Ratton Garden.
I’m afraid we’re only a few paragraphs in and they’ve already got me.
The production comes from writer and lyricist Nick Cassenbaum, who sees something more beneath all the silliness. Dick’s arrival in London has been reimagined to echo the experiences of Jewish and non-Jewish immigrant families who arrived in the city and faced obstacles while trying to establish new lives.
Don’t panic, though. Cassenbaum is adamant that it remains a proper pantomime — and a funny one at that.
There’s also a live band performing klezmer versions of familiar songs, plenty of heimishe humour and, apparently, enough pickle jokes to keep the nation’s gherkin industry occupied until Easter. The company itself promises that its pantomime will be “the real dill”.
I didn’t write that one.
I wish I had.
Aveev Isaacson takes the title role of Dick Whittingberg, with Debbie Chazen returning to JW3 as Sarah Fritz. Gaby Coleman plays Bow Bells, Rosie Yadid returns as Nigella Garbage and John Henry Falle appears as Tevye Tittlebaum. Lillith Freeman and Ilya Jackson complete the company as ensemble and understudy performers, including rat henchmen Schmaltz and Schmutz.
Behind the production, Cassenbaum is reunited with musical director and lyricist Josh Middleton, director Abigail Anderson and choreographer Yael Loewenstein, with the creative team now working together on JW3’s pantomime for a fourth consecutive year.
There’s something rather lovely about the whole idea.
Pantomime has always been a glorious theatrical magpie, borrowing from different generations, places and traditions and cheerfully turning the lot into something audiences can shout at. Here, a familiar British story is being used to celebrate Jewish culture while also touching on the experiences of families who arrived in London looking for somewhere to belong.
And then somebody throws in an evil rat and a diamond robbery.
That’s panto.
Dick Whittingberg Gets Into a Pickle runs at JW3, 341–351 Finchley Road, London, from Sunday 6 December 2026 until Sunday 3 January 2027.
JW3 describes itself as the UK’s only Jewish Community Centre of its kind, bringing people together through arts, culture, education and social action, with everyone welcome.
I am annoyed I didn’t think of Ratton Garden first.
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