OH YeS iT iS!
Residents’ Journal
Residents’ Journal
entertaining?
T
he line reads: ‘exit, pursued by a pink spotted cow’. I like to imagine that this is the kind of stage direction you often find in the scripts of the liveliest of festive theatre productions: the pantomime. Generations of families have celebrated the yuletide season with a trip to the theatre to watch beautiful princesses, brave heroes, comedic sidekicks, evil baddies and cross-dressing dames prance around on stage in a traditional panto. While the shows themselves repeat on rotation (Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk and other fairytales proving most popular) there’s always something new – primarily due to the combination of slapstick and (hopefully) witty contemporary satire trafficked during the production. Going to a pantomime has been a Christmas tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Now that we’re grown-ups, catching a cheesy show has become more about how entertaining it is to torture my younger sister (who can’t abide all the
OH YES IT IS!
Jennifer Mason prepares to dodge dames and battle villains as she investigates the wonderfully wacky world of pantomime
‘he’s behind you’ hilarity) than seeing a great piece of theatre. For our purposes, the tackier the show, the better – the very act of screaming ‘oh no it isn’t’ along with hundreds of small, excited children is our cue to feel festive. For us and many others, Christmas simply isn’t complete without a good (or terrible) panto. The art form (and I mean ‘art’ in a sense as loose as Mother Goose’s bloomers) as we know it today traces its origins back to the 16th-century Italian Commedia dell’arte – a form of entertainment that consisted of several stereotyped characters improvising their way through a number of set pieces. These are personalities we would recognise today: the brave hero, the foolish old man, the devious servant, among others. The genre developed in Britain between the 17th and mid-19th centuries into something known as Harlequinade, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts.’ The story of the
Aladdin 2013 @ NWT, Matthew Kelly by Craig Sugden
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Residents’ Journal
Snow White 2012 @ NWT, ensemble finale by Simon Annand
Snow White 2012 @ NWT, Snow White & dwarfs by Simon Annand
Harlequinade revolved around a comic incident in ‘panto season’ that we know and love came into being; the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who attracting on average 220,000 audience members per loves Columbine, and Columbine’s greedy father show each year to these two local theatres. Pantaloon, who, along with the mischievous Clown These days there are plenty of opportunities for and the servant Pierrot, tries to separate the lovers. people to catch their favourite stars treading the The action usually involved chaotic chase scenes with boards in outrageous costumes – and the leading a policeman – something that’s still an integral part names are getting bigger and bigger. To date, the of many modern panto plotlines. highest-grossing box office in the New Wimbledon In the 1800s, Harlequinade began to change. Theatre’s history was the 2010 show Peter Pan, Thanks to the legendary Joseph Grimaldi, the starring legendary Baywatch heartthrob David character Clown came to dominate the stage, and Hasselhoff in his pantomime début. The theatre has the world of pantomime also hosted other showbiz was born. Grimaldi himself names for their first dabble, There are plenty of started the convention of including the likes of opportunities for audiences Dame Edna Everage (a cross-dressing dames; in 1820 he played the baron’s born panto dame if ever to catch their favourite wife in a performance of there was one), Pamela stars treading the boards in Cinderella that proved Anderson, Priscilla Presley outrageous costumes so popular the tradition and Jo Brand. has continued ever since. We’ve all heard the Slapstick humour became an essential feature and, popular joke about celebrities who choose to appear although spoken lines were added, by the 1880s when in seasonal shows: ‘Speaking of your career: it’s the shows began to tell much-loved fairytale stories, behind you!’ But there’s often more to a star’s desire the stage was set for a tradition that continues to to join a pantomime cast than an opportunity to entertain children and adults alike each winter. revive a flagging livelihood. Jennifer Ellison famously The first pantomime in south-west London, Puss said: ‘If you do panto, everyone says you are washed in Boots, was performed at the Richmond Theatre up, but I love all the booing and hissing.’ Audience in 1899, and Wimbledon followed suit 11 years participation in all its laughing and shouting glory later with its inaugural show Jack and Jill. In those is unquestionably the main reason pantomime is early years, many of the performances were touring such a special and popular theatrical experience. productions playing for one week only, and often local I recall the exquisite agony I felt as a child of being theatre-goers would be able to enjoy several during unable to communicate to an on-stage hero that a season. It was only later that the four-to-six-week the bad guy was standing right behind them. As an adult I enjoy laughing along with the undercurrent Peter Pan 2010 @ NWT, Louie Spence & David Hasselhoff of inappropriate humour that sails right over the younger audience’s heads. To those still sceptical over whether the genre deserves such an elevated place in our theatres’ repertoires, I say, perhaps it’s time to try again; to rediscover the magic you once felt on seeing flying carpets and live animals before your very eyes (a Bengal tiger once prowled the stage at the New Wimbledon Theatre – an experience I fear will not be repeated in our modern age of health-andsafety regulations). In the end, what makes panto something to be treasured is that, despite all its crazy, over-the-top excitement, when done well it brings a little bit of magic into the lives of the audience, whether they’re six, 16 or 60. n
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Residents’ Journal
entertaining?
T
he line reads: ‘exit, pursued by a pink spotted cow’. I like to imagine that this is the kind of stage direction you often find in the scripts of the liveliest of festive theatre productions: the pantomime. Generations of families have celebrated the yuletide season with a trip to the theatre to watch beautiful princesses, brave heroes, comedic sidekicks, evil baddies and cross-dressing dames prance around on stage in a traditional panto. While the shows themselves repeat on rotation (Cinderella, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk and other fairytales proving most popular) there’s always something new – primarily due to the combination of slapstick and (hopefully) witty contemporary satire trafficked during the production. Going to a pantomime has been a Christmas tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Now that we’re grown-ups, catching a cheesy show has become more about how entertaining it is to torture my younger sister (who can’t abide all the
OH YES IT IS!
Jennifer Mason prepares to dodge dames and battle villains as she investigates the wonderfully wacky world of pantomime
‘he’s behind you’ hilarity) than seeing a great piece of theatre. For our purposes, the tackier the show, the better – the very act of screaming ‘oh no it isn’t’ along with hundreds of small, excited children is our cue to feel festive. For us and many others, Christmas simply isn’t complete without a good (or terrible) panto. The art form (and I mean ‘art’ in a sense as loose as Mother Goose’s bloomers) as we know it today traces its origins back to the 16th-century Italian Commedia dell’arte – a form of entertainment that consisted of several stereotyped characters improvising their way through a number of set pieces. These are personalities we would recognise today: the brave hero, the foolish old man, the devious servant, among others. The genre developed in Britain between the 17th and mid-19th centuries into something known as Harlequinade, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts.’ The story of the
Aladdin 2013 @ NWT, Matthew Kelly by Craig Sugden
- 10 -
- 11 -
Residents’ Journal
Snow White 2012 @ NWT, ensemble finale by Simon Annand
Snow White 2012 @ NWT, Snow White & dwarfs by Simon Annand
Harlequinade revolved around a comic incident in ‘panto season’ that we know and love came into being; the lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who attracting on average 220,000 audience members per loves Columbine, and Columbine’s greedy father show each year to these two local theatres. Pantaloon, who, along with the mischievous Clown These days there are plenty of opportunities for and the servant Pierrot, tries to separate the lovers. people to catch their favourite stars treading the The action usually involved chaotic chase scenes with boards in outrageous costumes – and the leading a policeman – something that’s still an integral part names are getting bigger and bigger. To date, the of many modern panto plotlines. highest-grossing box office in the New Wimbledon In the 1800s, Harlequinade began to change. Theatre’s history was the 2010 show Peter Pan, Thanks to the legendary Joseph Grimaldi, the starring legendary Baywatch heartthrob David character Clown came to dominate the stage, and Hasselhoff in his pantomime début. The theatre has the world of pantomime also hosted other showbiz was born. Grimaldi himself names for their first dabble, There are plenty of started the convention of including the likes of opportunities for audiences Dame Edna Everage (a cross-dressing dames; in 1820 he played the baron’s born panto dame if ever to catch their favourite wife in a performance of there was one), Pamela stars treading the boards in Cinderella that proved Anderson, Priscilla Presley outrageous costumes so popular the tradition and Jo Brand. has continued ever since. We’ve all heard the Slapstick humour became an essential feature and, popular joke about celebrities who choose to appear although spoken lines were added, by the 1880s when in seasonal shows: ‘Speaking of your career: it’s the shows began to tell much-loved fairytale stories, behind you!’ But there’s often more to a star’s desire the stage was set for a tradition that continues to to join a pantomime cast than an opportunity to entertain children and adults alike each winter. revive a flagging livelihood. Jennifer Ellison famously The first pantomime in south-west London, Puss said: ‘If you do panto, everyone says you are washed in Boots, was performed at the Richmond Theatre up, but I love all the booing and hissing.’ Audience in 1899, and Wimbledon followed suit 11 years participation in all its laughing and shouting glory later with its inaugural show Jack and Jill. In those is unquestionably the main reason pantomime is early years, many of the performances were touring such a special and popular theatrical experience. productions playing for one week only, and often local I recall the exquisite agony I felt as a child of being theatre-goers would be able to enjoy several during unable to communicate to an on-stage hero that a season. It was only later that the four-to-six-week the bad guy was standing right behind them. As an adult I enjoy laughing along with the undercurrent Peter Pan 2010 @ NWT, Louie Spence & David Hasselhoff of inappropriate humour that sails right over the younger audience’s heads. To those still sceptical over whether the genre deserves such an elevated place in our theatres’ repertoires, I say, perhaps it’s time to try again; to rediscover the magic you once felt on seeing flying carpets and live animals before your very eyes (a Bengal tiger once prowled the stage at the New Wimbledon Theatre – an experience I fear will not be repeated in our modern age of health-andsafety regulations). In the end, what makes panto something to be treasured is that, despite all its crazy, over-the-top excitement, when done well it brings a little bit of magic into the lives of the audience, whether they’re six, 16 or 60. n
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