Oh no, she doesn’t! Mum fails to see the funny side of the Krankies and their rather rude panto
THe slapstick humour of pantomime has amused generations of children – with a sprinkling of innuendo to make their parents giggle.
But one mother yesterday claimed a show she attended with her family was so rude it wiped the smile right off her face.
Natalie Wood said Dick Whittington, starring Doctor Who star John Barrowman and 80s Tv double act the Krankies, contained ‘disgusting’ lines and ‘inappropriate’ behaviour.
‘The whole show was very sexualised,’ she said. ‘John Barrowman sat Jimmy Krankie on his knee and started fondling her breasts.
‘He then takes his hands off and she puts them back on again as if to say, “I was enjoying that.” We thought that was wrong being a female but the fact it was supposed to be a schoolboy, it was just a step too far.’
Miss Wood, a swimming instructor from Oldham, bought tickets for the weekend show at Manchester Opera House as a treat for her fiance robert Titherington and her sister. They had six children with them, ranging in age from three to 12.
‘I have never been to a pantomime where I felt so uncomfortable,’ she said.
She was offended rather than amused by what she said were constant smutty references to ‘Dick’ in Dick Whittington and characters poking their fingers out of their trousers to pretend they were exposing themselves.
Afterwards, she sent an email to organisers Qdos entertainment calling for the show to be stopped. ‘Our family is disgusted with this production,’ she wrote. ‘It has ruined our annual Christmas panto outing and left us feeling uncomfortable and concerned about what the children were exposed to.’
However, the organisers insisted it is a family-friendly production – and many agree with them.
On Facebook, Anna Hulley wrote: ‘We went Saturday and laughed from start to finish. My seven-year- old is still telling the jokes and laughing abo ut it. Panto is all about tongue-incheek and a bit of innuendo for the grown-ups.’ A spokesman for Qdos and Manchester Opera House said: ‘In keeping with the tradition of pantomime, the script does make use of double entendre. None of the humour within the show is intended to cause offence.’
It is not the first panto to be accused of going too far. Last year, a production of Cinderella starring Julian Clary was described by theatre critic Michael Billington as a ‘tsunami of smut’.
‘Tsunami of smut’