Parents have slammed a pantomime for ‘sexual jokes’ and using live ponies.
Visitors have swamped Hull New Theatre’s Facebook page with complaints about this year’s panto, Cinderella, which stars former EastEnders actress Anita Dobson.
One woman said she left the production halfway through after spotting the ponies "looking miserable" and "hanging their heads", reports the Hull Daily Mail.
Catherine Heckford-Dickinson, 43, from Hull, was on an evening out with a friend on Thursday but said they left during the interval after "inappropriate jokes" and the use of the ponies to pull Cinderella’s carriage to the ball.
She said: "We’ve been to the pantomime in other years but it didn’t feel the same this year."
Miss Heckford-Dickinson also said that the jokes made were a bit too much for a panto aimed at children.
She said: "The content was sexualised and inappropriate for children and would be for adults in an adult environment. There was a joke about someone being ‘touched up’.
"I overheard a child behind asking what ‘up the duff’ meant. The jokes were for adults, not children. If it was just that we would have stayed but lodged a complaint after but we saw the ponies and had to leave."
She added: "I was really surprised to see the ponies and found it a bit disturbing. It really spoilt it.
"They looked miserable and were hanging their heads. There are all these lights and noise and an environment like that is totally alien to them.
"I don’t care if they say they are used to it, or they are bred for performance because they shouldn’t be.
"They weren’t on stage for long, I saw the bit of them at the carriage and the curtain went down so I’m not sure if they were in the second part but we decided to leave, it really spoilt it.
"I know someone who works at the theatre and they said the ponies should be treated well but they shouldn’t be there anyway. In panto, they used to wear the classic panto horse costume, they should have used that.
"We were so shocked to see the ponies on stage. Next time I will research if somewhere is using animals in a production. How many more performances like that do they have to go through? I’ll be lodging a complaint."
Another woman posted on Facebook that the use of the ponies was "unnecessary".
She said: "How shameful that you allowed live animals in the Cinderella production on your stage. So unnecessary and the ponies were either sedated or so fed up of being in such an alien environment. It’s saddening to see animals hanging their heads for whatever reason.
"How many ‘performances’ are they expected to do? Another 10 days of performances for these poor creatures. Truly disgusting."
The pantomime is being shown for another eight days at Hull New Theatre and stars actors from stage and screen, including Bernie Clifton, Neil McDermott, Jocasta Almgill and Hannah Nicholas.
It was not just the ponies that got people talking, with some parents posting online about the use of "inappropriate" language.
One mum wrote on Facebook: "The performance of Cinderella at Hull New Theatre typified all that is wrong in society today. Not only was it completely inappropriate for children, with references to ‘touching up’ and being ‘up the duff’, it shamelessly mocked poorer local areas of the town, at a time when poverty is at a record high.
"It involved the stripping of a planted ‘male teacher’ right down to his underpants in front of a theatre full of pupils and a song and dance routine that involved Anita Dobson (who was constantly purring and fawning over men) repeatedly putting her truncheon between the buttocks of Buttons," she added.
"The whole show undermines the values we should be teaching our children. The fact that it involves objectifying men, rather than women, does not make it okay."
Hull New Theatre has been approached for comment.
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