'Loose Talk'
By Benjamin Benedict
Pantomime
Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Treasure Island, Cinderella, Mother Goose, Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, I could go on with their names and cover the full length of this article.
Every year, as winter sets in celebrities, TV personalities, career actors and even major talents from stage and screen gather in Britain to present this most magical form of theatrical entertainment. Pantomimes are steeped in the mists of time. Traces of Chaucer and Shakespeare are to be found there and they are created not just for children, but for the child in all of us.
Probably because the money is good (almost all major shows are completely sold out) they attract a foreign star or two. An American lady playing the Wicked Witch was horrified when the audience jeered her. She soon realised that this is all part of the game. The audience cheers the good guys and boos the bad guys and generally participates in the action at every level singing songs, yelling out magic words to help the hero, answering questions the players don’t seem to know the answer to and shouting warnings when the villain is creeping up on their hero.
There is always some love interest, and thirty years ago, in the old tradition the hero was played by a woman, thus promoting the vision of two very attractive women romancing each other. Today, a young man, probably well known to the public plays the man’s part, but there is always someone’s larger than life mother who is played by an equally well known man. This cross dressing is cause for great hilarity, and incredibly in our increasingly prudish society it doesn’t stop there. You will also find an overtly gay man in a supporting (no pun intended) roll. A lot of his camp comments and asides are well over the kid’s heads but his mannerisms make it funny to them anyway. In this politically correct, over sensitive world, only in this carefree environment would such sexual innuendo be allowed in front of children, and today these parts are mostly played by well known gays themselves.
One of the more recent innovations is to incorporate a well known pop group into the show. S Club 7 took part in one. I asked myself why they decided to do this, as although the pay is good, divided by seven it wouldn’t have meant much to them. I came to the conclusion that it was primarily for the kids and the chance to perform alongside so many other great, national stars who are not above taking part in this simple, yes childish form of entertainment. In fact it is a joy and a privilege to be asked, and it is this fun-loving, giving spirit which makes the mood so wonderful.
By the end of January, these silly shows close and the cast go back to their normal line of work. Over the last decade they have filmed a few performances and to me the most precious thing is to see the glowing faces of the audience caught up in the joy of the moment. So, if you want a lift next winter, head to the nearest Panto and take some kids with you. If there are none in your part of the world, there’s a DVD of ‘Jack And the Beanstalk’ starring Julie Walters, Paul Merton and Griff Rhys Jones, originally broadcast live on Christmas Day 1998. You will be treated to a fine sample of this unique form of entertainment which from where I sit shows the human race at its very best.
Email Article
Share Article
